


World Collision

by CrossingTheFourthWall



Series: Maria's Adventures [10]
Category: DC Animated Universe, Jak and Daxter, Marvel, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Transformers: Prime
Genre: (in the form of something called MindTech), Gen, Mind Control, this one is where everything comes to a head, war war and more war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 11:56:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 66,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11759358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossingTheFourthWall/pseuds/CrossingTheFourthWall
Summary: A group of worlds has been merged together in ways they should not be. People are being taken and turned to the other side.And Maria is missing. Momentarily.





	1. Chapter 1

A black-haired teenage girl ducked into an alley and dove behind an empty dumpster right before a group of five costumed figures ran past. Purple eyes peered out from behind the empty, rusty box as the five disappeared from sight, and the girl let out a sigh of relief.

 _That was too close._ She wiped sweat off her forehead with a purple sleeve of her jacket.  _Better not waste any time before they start sweeping again._

The girl slipped out from behind the dumpster and looked around, hoping to find a place to hide before she was found out. She caught sight of a building that looked like it was falling apart across the street. It looked like nobody had been inside in centuries.

"Hey! You!" came a barking call from behind. "Get back here!"

The girl didn't even bother to look back; she bolted across the eerily quiet street and dove through the yawning entrance as the five figures ran after her.

The girl scrambled through what looked like a lobby and under a door that was leaning off its hinges before running down the darkened hallway behind it.

_If those freaks catch me, I'm going to end up in the Trials and I'm going to be dead meat. Gotta keep the fear down, Myra – they can probably smell it._

The girl – Myra – took in a deep breath and slowed to a halt in the darkened hallway, now more than far enough from the door that she was completely encased in blackness. Faintly, she could hear what sounded like people talking on the other side of the door in monotone.

Myra backed up a few more steps, looking at the light leaking in through the off-kilter door.  _Easy, easy; they'll probably go away and not look behind the door—_

The light disappeared abruptly.

Myra blanched before she turned and bolted down the dark hallway again. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness as best they could, and she caught sight of a faint light hiding off to her right up ahead, and she scrambled around an almost-unseen corner, one hand on the cool, metal wall in order to keep her feet from running into it.

Around the corner, Myra came across a door with two lone lamps (that flickered like fire - how long had they been on?) on either side of it. The metal - might have once been iron - that made up the area looked so rusted that it seemed as though someone had decided to paint the entire area bright orange and left the paint to flake off and take the iron with it.

Not really caring for the strange pattern that had been carved into the door, Myra began to push up against it, hoping to find a place to hide just beyond it.

At first, the door refused to budge - the rusted hinges refused to move after remaining in their position for who knew  _how_  long. However, Myra continued to push, her cause to move far greater than the door's need to stay put.

The door's hinges let out a shriek as the metal door was pushed back a short distance. Myra, seeing her chance, slipped through the opening before putting her back to the door and pushing it shut behind her.

_Ka-chunk._

The sound of something falling to place echoed through the lightless area that Myra suddenly found herself in. She stood with her back to the door, trying to catch her breath.

Something rammed into the door from the other side, causing Myra to scramble away and turn around sharply as the door rattled and shook; rust fell off the door in dark orange snowflakes, which Myra was only able to see when they fell by the crack at the bottom of the door.

The door rattled three times, but held firm.

Myra stood, nervously staring at the door, then relaxed when the door didn't fall over. "That'll hold them back for a little bit. I'd better find another way out of here before they get through…."

She started to feel along the walls on either side of the door for some sort of light switch, surprised to find that the walls here were smooth and cool, almost as though they had been carved from rock, rather than the more common, chilled metal that made up the buildings in the area. It wasn't long before Myra came across a rather ancient, sticky light switch, which she promptly pushed on. However, the lights weren't so quick to come on - they came on two at a time instead, leading down a corridor made of white stone.

Myra watched the lights cautiously, wondering what lay beyond the corridor, and whether or not it would be safe to go down it, considering what she had just run from. After glancing again at the door, which seemed to stiffen up in her eyes at the thought of being pushed again, Myra decided to risk it and continue on, wary of anything that might come out of the shadows behind the strange, rusted machinery and attack her.

The eerie quiet told her otherwise, however.

"Considering how rusted that door was, I'm…I'm probably okay," Myra murmured to herself.

She looked over the machines again as she passed by them. None of them were recognizable, but that could have been because of the rust that was eating away at them – a good sign; if there was oxygen in the area, then there had to be a way out beyond the door that she had just come through. The machines weren't just covered in orange dust, though – some of them looked like they had been…melted, before they had been discarded here.

"What is this place?" Myra's gaze moved away from the machines and towards the other end of the corridor, which seemed to open up into a chamber of some kind.

She passed by a plain, metal door that was just as rusted as the first one she had come across, and stepped into a small chamber with flickering lights and sparking wires hanging from the ceiling. Along one wall was what looked like a large computer console that was covered in dust, and in the center of the room was what looked like some kind of glowing ice pillar with the form of someone trapped inside.

There was also a bunch of computer towers that had collapsed on one end of the room. It looked like there had been more to the area, but it was almost completely blocked off.

"Dead end," Myra groaned. She slammed down on a computer console that was near her, hitting a few buttons. "Well, isn't that just—"

The computer let out a loud whining noise, causing Myra to jump back in surprise as the noise quickly turned into something that sounded like a revving engine.

One computer screen began to glow blue, drawing Myra towards it, curious and cautious. As she approached, white words began to appear on the screen, constantly scrolling down as more materialized.

_"This is the last log entry concerning Project: Reclaim._

_"Subject has been resistant to any attempts at surrendering her mind to our master's control, even with our advancements in technology. Subject has refused to reveal how she has managed to avoid the commands and find ways to short-circuit the devices - even when submerged under water, where her powers are unable to activate. Until further advancements have been made, Subject is to be placed in a cryogenic chamber, so that she will still be available at the time we have need of her. In the meantime, the others will be used to subjugate the populace, in order that no possible opposition will appear in the future."_

A set of glyphs was flashing at the bottom of the screen, but Myra couldn't read them.

Myra frowned at these words, feeling slightly confused. "Reclaim? Short-circuit the—" She cut herself off as her eyes widened and something settled in the pit of her stomach uneasily. "Are they talking about…MindTech?"

She tried to hit a few more buttons on the computer console, but she wasn't able to get anything other than the blue screen with its white text.

"Why isn't there a map or anything down here? I need another way—"

_BAM!_

Myra's head whirled back to the corridor she had just come down, and she sucked in a breath when she saw the rusty door she had just come through had come off its hinges and was now lying dented on the floor. She caught sight of a flash of a circular object in the doorway, and she sucked in a breath sharply.

"A Gladiator." Myra swallowed. "I'm dead."

She stumbled back and away from the door, bumping against the icy cylinder that was in the center of the room. Her fingers twitched; she wanted to fight, or find something to hide behind, but the room was small and lined with the same white stone that was in the corridor she had come through. There weren't any weapons nearby.

Her chest felt like it was going to explode. "I'm going to the Trials…I'm going to die…"

The pressure in her chest started to work its way up into her throat as her eyes started to water. In order to keep her hands away from her face, she pressed her hands against the cold glass her back was already against. Her hands quickly became slick with water as the Gladiator with the circular shield stepped into the entrance between the corridor and the chamber that Myra was now trapped in.

Myra felt something move under the glass, scrape against it from the inside. The Gladiator – now with his red, white, and blue costume visible – paused as Myra stiffened in response to the movement.

Then the glass started to heat up.

"Wa!" Myra pulled back in surprise, moving towards the toppled computer towers instead of towards the Gladiator, who didn't move after her.

Cracks started to spread across the cylinder as a dark orange glow came from within it, surrounding the figure that was encased within. The glow quickly moved and filled the entire cylinder as water started to leak out of it in squeaks of steam.

_"Get back!"_

Myra jumped at the young woman's voice and quickly looked around. "Where did that—"

The cylinder exploded.

Ice and steam and glass flew out in all directions, causing Myra to drop to the floor and cover her head in order to avoid the blast. A wave of fire followed afterwards, then reversed direction and condensed into an egg-like shape before the fire disappeared abruptly, revealing a teenage girl with brown hair and red, orange, and gray armor that covered her form from the neck down.

Two white gloves went up, flashing golden bands on the wrists, and five tendrils of white fire lashed out at the Gladiator. The shield went up, but that didn't stop the flames. Instead, they went  _around_  the shield and the Gladiator on either side, formed one spear of fire behind him, and slammed forward into the back of the Gladiator's neck.

The red, white, and blue-costumed Gladiator bent back and let out a yell of pain as the fire seared into the back of his neck. When the flames pulled back a second later, the man's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed to the floor without a sound.

The armored figure's arms collapsed to her sides. She stood for only a moment, then collapsed down onto her knees, head dropping to her chest limply.

Myra blinked in confusion, jaw hanging open a little. What had just  _happened?_

Something sparked near where the Gladiator had collapsed, causing Myra's eyes to move in order to get a better look at what was getting her attention.

Lying near the Gladiator was a smoking black square of metal with broken electrical wires protruding from it. They sparked for a few more seconds before they died rather abruptly.

Myra blinked at the sight, then bit her lower lip and looked over at the two seemingly-unconscious figures that were lying between her and the open door. There could be more Gladiators out there waiting for her, but…if there was a chance….

She started towards the open door, moving quickly on her toes.

She hadn't taken two steps before the man groaned and started to move. "Ugh…."

Myra froze, her eyes widening at the sound as the Gladiator started to push himself up into a sitting position, rubbing the back of his head as his mouth twisted into a grimace.

"God, that hurts," the man muttered. "Feels like Thor tried to hammer a spike through my head." He reached over to his shield and grabbed the edge of it, pulling it closer. As he did, it moved in front of the armored girl who had exploded into flames a moment ago, causing him to pause.

Myra watched as he stared at the armored girl with wide eyes that didn't look glazed over. His hand shot to the back of his head – no, the back of his neck – fingers searching for something. His eyes widened further a moment later.

"It  _worked?"_  he asked incredulously. He quickly hooked the shield onto his back and glanced around behind him. Upon catching sight of the remains of the black box, he picked it up and inspected it with a frown before crushing it in a tight fist.

"I've been waiting to do that for a long time." A confident grin crossed his face, and he returned his attention to the armored girl. His brow furrowed under his costumed mask. "Knocked out…makes sense; no one's been down here recently to give her an energy boost." He pulled himself up into a crouch and grabbed the armored girl, lifting her up over one shoulder effortlessly. As he did, he turned and locked eyes with Myra, then paused.

Myra gulped. "U-uh…" Her gaze went to the remains of the black box, crushed and dropped to the floor, then back to the man with the armored girl over his shoulder. She swallowed again.

The man sighed and shook his head. "I'm not taking you in, but you're going to have to come with me if you're going to be able to get out of here."

"Wh-wh-"

The man motioned for her to follow him as me moved towards the door. "Come on! We don't have much time before the others come back!"

Myra hesitated, looking between the man and the door for a moment, then bolted out the open entrance and down the hall towards the abandoned lobby. She could hear his footfalls behind her, which only made her speed up.

The door at the end of the hallway only slowed her down for a moment, but it gave the man enough time to grab her foot and pull her back right before he put his shield between them and the door.

"Let me g—mmmf!"

"Shh." The man held his other hand over Myra's mouth. "I don't know how you managed to survive so long, but bolting out into the open isn't going to end well."

Myra grabbed the man's hand and tried to pull it off her face, but it didn't budge.

"I'm trying to help!" the man hissed. "You woke her up – the least I can do is help you get out of here without attracting more attention!"

Myra paused at that, blinking a couple times before looking up at the man in confusion and fear. "Mm?"

The man looked at her for a moment, then pulled his hand back and adjusted the armored girl's position on his shoulder. "Come on. We only have a slim window before they come and find us and bring us in, and I do  _not_  intend to go through that again." He peered under the door as Myra scooted towards the wall and away from him, watching him warily.

"H-how do I know this isn't a trick?" Myra looked between the girl, the man, and the open door. "Y-you could still be working for them!"

The man sighed and turned his head to look back at Myra. "I understand why you don't trust me. But you are going to have to stick with me until we get out of here safely. Can you trust me for at least that long?"

Myra shrank back a little at the question as shouts started coming from outside. The shouts drew the man's attention towards the door, and he rose up from the crouch that he had been in, one hand on the armored girl over his shoulder, the other in the straps on the back of the circular red, white, and blue shield.

Something crackled in the air; Myra's nose twitched as she picked up the smell of ozone from outside, and suddenly the door in front of them was completely torn off its hinges and thrown somewhere else in the lobby. The echoing, metallic crash that resulted caused Myra to flinch back in alarm at the noise, but she didn't retreat back – there was no place to go from there.

"Torunn, you used too much!" scolded a boy's voice on the other side of the door.

Myra blinked in surprise as the man next to her stiffened, and she cautiously rose to her feet.  _Torunn?_

"We wanted it out of the way, so I got it out of the way," replied a teenage girl's voice in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yes, but  _they_  could have heard it!" spoke up a third voice - another boy's.

"That doesn't matter right now," stated the first voice. "We saw him go down this way, so let's go after—"

"James, what do you think you're doing?"

Myra looked up in alarm as the man stepped out of the darkened hallway and into the open,  _lowering_  his shield. All movement in the lobby area stopped at the sound of his voice, and she peered out from the darkness in order to get a look at what was going on.

A group of four teenagers – well, three teenagers and a smaller boy – were standing out in the abandoned lobby. As soon as the man with the armored girl had stepped out into the open, all four of them had raised their fists – and sword, in the case of the only girl who was out there.

"Dad," said the red-haired boy. "Put the shield down, and turn around so Torunn can blast the MindTech on the back of your neck."

"Do you really think that saying that is going to work?" hissed a darker-skinned boy with light blue tattoos on his skin. "He's going to take our heads off in a second!"

"You kids are being horribly reckless and you're lucky that I haven't," the man said sternly. "You can look, Torunn, but I don't think you're going to find it there anymore."

The boys exchanged looks in confusion at that as the only girl in their group moved closer to the man, with her sword still drawn and pointed at him. She stared at the armored girl for a moment before jumping up and  _hovering_  behind the man with the shield.

"He's right! I see where it was, but it's gone!" Torunn dropped to the ground, then looked between the man and the others.

"How?" the smallest of the four, wearing a yellow and black-striped costume, looked at his companions. "Do you think they made it so that MindTech is  _inside_  his neck now?"

"Their technology may be good, Pym, but it isn't that good."

The four kids turned as the man moved his gaze to the entrance of the building, where  _another_  figure was standing – a young man, wearing a black-and-cobalt costume that had the head of what looked like a wolf on the front of his costume.

The young man walked into the building. "I've heard that they've tried, but the signal back wasn't—" He stopped. "Cap, is that…?"

Cap – the man – adjusted his grip on the girl on his shoulder. He nodded. "She was sealed away in a lab back here, frozen solid. I think this girl accidentally started the defrosting process and she took care of the rest." Cap motioned back to Myra, who backed up a little bit nervously.

Torunn looked over, then lowered her sword and reached into the hallway, grabbed Myra's arm, then pulled the purple-eyed girl out into the open. "Thou dost not look like someone they would want."

"Torunn, you're doing it again," James warned.

Torunn ducked her head a little at that.

The boy with the tattoos looked between Cap and the man who had just arrived. "Wait…do you mean…that's…?"

"It is, Azari," the man replied. He turned and started out of the building. "We don't have much time. Come on."

Cap followed after the man instantly, James and the others falling into step around him as Torunn dragged Myra after them.

"H-hey!" Myra tried to pull her arm out of Torunn's grip, but the other girl had a tight grip on her wrist. "Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere safe!" Torunn looked back and grinned at Myra. "It'll be a lot better than any sort of hiding hole that you could find for even a few hours."

"Wh-what?" Myra's brow furrowed as she stopped pulling. "Someplace safe?"

"Yup! A place those dark beasties don't know about yet."

The man Cap and the others were following led them around to another alley. Hovering a little of the ground was what looked like a truck frame without the tires.

"I'm glad you remembered the E-Brake this time, Azari," the man said, looking back at the boy.

Myra blinked in confusion.

Azari crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. "I was still learning about the Zoomer technology last time."

"Seeker, how much trouble are we in?" James asked.

"Plenty," the man – Seeker – replied. He looked over at Cap. "Captain, you do realize that you're going to be detained for a short time when you come back."

Cap nodded. "At this point, I'm relieved that my thoughts are my own again."

Seeker eyed him for a moment before nodding again. Then he went over to the truck cab and jumped into the driver's seat. "James, you take shotgun. Everyone else in the back."

James nodded, then moved around to the other side of the cab as the others started to climb into the truck bed of the vehicle. Myra was dragged on with Torunn and ended up sitting next to her as Cap sat on the other side of the bed.

As the man pulled the armored girl off his shoulder and lay her down in the center of the truckbed, Myra leaned forward a little in order to get a better look at her.

The red, gray, and orange color scheme was separated into different areas of the girl's armor: red boots, red on the abdomen, red on the upper half of her chest, on the square-shaped shoulder pads, and on her arms from her elbows to her wrists. The only part that was orange was on the lower half of her chest, and the rest – minus the white gloves and the gold bracelets that were on the girl's elbows and wrists – were gray.

Myra looked up at the man on the other side of the truck bed as Azari settled next to him and Pym sat on her other side. "Who were you?"

Cap looked up at the question. His blue eyes were dull as he frowned slightly. "Steve Rogers. Captain America."

The truck started up with a low purring hum and started to move as Myra sat back against the side of the truck bed, eyes slowly widening. "And…and her?" She pointed down at the armored girl lying on the bottom of the truck bed.

Captain America's mouth quirked up a little, and his eyes lost some of their dullness. "The World Jumper."

Myra's eyes widened even further, and she looked quickly between the girl lying on the floor of the truck and back at the man she had been running from not but a few minutes ago. " _World Jumper?_  But – but those people are myths! They can't be real!"

"She is one," Captain America insisted. "I met her before."

"You can ask more questions when we get to where we're going." Pym pulled out a folded swath of fabric that was under him. "We need to cover up. Stay quiet until Seeker gives us the all clear, got it?"

Myra swallowed and nodded nervously as Pym and Azari unfolded the fabric and threw two corners over to Torunn and Captain America and over Myra's head, pulling her a little away from the side of the truck bed as everyone else with her joined under the cover of the heavy fabric.

Myra bit her lower lip. She hoped that she wasn't going to end up falling into a trap with these people. And yet…

Her eyes moved to the World Jumper's form in front of her, remembering that fire storm that had filled the room before Captain America's MindTech had been blasted off the back of his neck.

_Maybe…the World Jumper is unconscious because she knows she's safe?_

Myra crossed her fingers as the hovering truck started moving, slowly at first, then quickly started to pick up speed.

_I hope I'm safe, too._


	2. Mar's Haven

The Zoomer started picking up speed, causing Myra to stiffen up sharply.

A corner of the tarp was lifted up. "We're coming up on the Time Barrier. Do you guys have your talismans?"

"T-talismans?" Myra repeated in confusion. "Time Barrier?"

James sighed as Azari, Pym, and Torrun pulled out various items and gripped them tightly: Torrun's sword, Azari held what looked like a worn, old mask of some kind of black cat, and Pym holding a similarly worn mask, but with antenna sticking out of the top of the mask instead of cat ears. "The pink barriers are Time Barriers; you're going to need something that's been infused with energy can protect you from getting abruptly older or younger – Dad, do you or the World Jumper—"

"She'll be fine." Cap gripped his shield and held it in front of him.

Myra blinked, then lifted her head up to the lifted side of the tarp. She caught sight of a flash of pink before Torunn pushed her back down. "Oh, those? I've gone through those before." She reached under her black shirt and pulled out a necklace. Attached to it was a crystal that glowed with a purple-white light. "This usually reacts to them."

"Then that'll work." James dropped the tarp.

"Where did you get that?" Torunn stared at Myra with wide eyes, her face appearing strange in the light coming from the crystal in Myra's hand.

"I don't know." Myra noticed the curious look she was getting from Cap and quickly hid it under her shirt again, leaving them in darkness. "I don't really remember what…what before was like."

"You don't know which world was yours before they collided together?" Pym asked in surprise.

"No, I—"

Suddenly everything was glowing pink.

Myra gripped at the necklace hiding under her shirt as the crystal glowed brightly in response, the purple and pink merging and clashing together. The others gripped their own items tightly, yellow, red, black, and dark blue clashing and merging with the pink as well.

Something gleamed in the World Jumper's chest, and she was suddenly encased in a glowing, blue-white light. Myra stiffened up in surprise and stared as the woman's face seemed to shift a little, but she didn't open her eyes.

Then they were suddenly in the dark again, colors still dancing in their eyes but quickly fading.

Myra let out a sigh of relief and relaxed her grip on her shirt. "That felt…different, from the other times."

"Where's the World Jumper's talisman?" Pym asked. "I didn't see anything…."

"World Jumpers like her pass through time and space when they travel," Captain America replied. "She  _is_  her talisman."

The Zoomer jumped suddenly, causing the tarp to flap upwards for a moment. Cap, Torunn, Azari, and Pym grabbed the corners before it could go flying, and as they pulled it back down, Myra caught sight of buildings that were made of hard-packed dirt – nothing like the tall, wrecked steel towers that Myra had been hiding in before.

And yet, she knew the name of the place. "Spargus?"

"Passing through?" Captain America ventured.

"No." Torunn's voice was grim. "We are in Mar's Haven now."

Captain America fell silent.

"Um…" Myra's brow furrowed as she felt the others' gazes move over to her. "I haven't heard of Mar's Haven before."

"H-hey, are we sure that bringing her is a good idea?" Azari spoke up. "I mean, she's a straggler – the last one from the Dark City as far as we know! They're gonna be coming after her and then we're gonna be—"

"I doubt it," Captain America spoke up shortly. "They're looking for new fodder, not to clear an area out. There's probably still some people left in there."

Torunn muttered something that Myra didn't catch. A moment later, she said, "She has to come. She's seen us."

"What are you talking about?" Myra frowned. "You said I'd be going somewhere safe – where are you taking me?"

"You will see," Torunn replied.

The hovering truck slowed, then came to a stop. Myra fidgeted in her seat, wondering what was going on outside the tarp.

The doors on the sides of the truck's cab slammed shut, and a moment later the tarp was pulled off, revealing what looked like a thin alleyway between two buildings.

James bundled the tarp up and tossed it into the cabin through an open window as Captain America gathered the World Jumper in his arms. "We're almost there. We have to go on foot the rest of the way."

Seeker folded his arms across his chest and looked up. "Grey, I know you're there."

A red-haired woman in a dark blue and yellow outfit jumped down and landed on the truck bed where the World Jumper had been lying a moment ago.

Myra yelped and scrambled back, bumping against the side of the truck bed.

Azari rose to his feet and gave a nod in greeting. "Jean Grey."

"Prince Azari." Jean returned his nod, then looked over at Seeker. "Aura Seeker, that was a dangerous move going out in the open to bring them back."

"I know. But I think you'll find that I had a good reason for it." Seeker nodded to Captain America as the man rose to his feet, the World Jumper cradled in his arms.

Jean turned and locked her gaze with Captain America, whose shoulders stiffened in response. She took another step towards him, then raised a hand and put her fingers on his forehead; Captain America took in a shuddering breath as his eyes flickered shut in time with Jean's.

After a moment, Jean removed her hand from his forehead and stepped back, her eyes wide as Captain America opened his eyes again. "How did you break free of their control? You don't have—"

"It's got more to do with her than anything else." Captain America shifted the World Jumper's position in his arms, causing Jean's attention to shift.

Jean blinked, then put a hand at the World Jumper's head first, paused, then moved it to the girl's chest. After a moment, she pulled her hand back. "I didn't think that she'd look so young."

"She can have a mechanic change her physical age if she wants," Seeker replied. "She's going to need it. Her presence is weak."

Myra blinked in confusion. How did Seeker know?

"And Batman is going to want to talk to you." Jean looked around at the group.

"I am not surprised," Captain America replied dryly.

"He is also going to want to see this girl you brought along with you." Jean turned and looked at Myra, who hadn't stood up yet.

"She's a Straggler," Pym said, in a tone that suggested that explained everything. "She doesn't know where she came from, either."

Jean's eyebrows rose at that. "You don't?"

Myra shook her head. "I know I know how to survive, and…and what's happened, but…." She shook her head again.

Jean put a hand on Myra's forehead, and the teenager stiffened as she felt  _something_  dig around in her head for a moment, there but also not there. The feeling faded after a moment, and Jean pulled her hand back. "Well, you're not experiencing mind tunnel vision, so you're not a sleeper agent for them. It almost feels like there's something blocked; Charles is going to want to have a look at you."

"Wh-who?" Myra swallowed.

"A friend." Jean turned to look at the others, then motioned for them to follow her as she jumped off the truck bed and walked over to the wall at the end of the alley. The others followed after her, Myra bringing up the rear with Torrun again.

Jean put her hand on the wall as she neared it, paused, then  _pushed._  Myra's jaw dropped as the wall collapsed in on itself, revealing a doorway just barely big enough to fit Captain America through.

Jean looked back, motioned for them to follow, and stepped through without another word.

"What just—"

"Didst thou think that we would leave the entrance open for anyone to pass through?" Torrun asked.

"You're doing it again," Pym called over his shoulder as he went through the entryway ahead of them.

Torrun ducked her head as she and Myra passed through, Myra looking at her with a curious expression as they left the alley and the orange, tamped clay buildings behind…

…and entered a large, cavernous space, with vaulted ceilings that went up so high that Myra had to crane her neck in order to see where it was that they went. Carvings of strange people with large, pointed ears fighting against creatures with metal coverings; one that was purple-skinned made his appearance the most often.

The entire chamber seemed to be filled with smaller hutches as well, with people milling about between them. Myra caught sight of some sort of large, mechanical construct off in one corner, while it looked like some sort of miniature arena had been constructed in an opposite area.

"It's so quiet," Myra said, keeping her voice low.

"We don't have as many people as we used to," Seeker said, looking back at her and startling the girl. "That's going to change soon, though."

Myra blinked a couple times out of confusion at that comment. "H-how?"

"You'll see." Seeker looked over at Jean and Captain America. "I'll take James and Myra to talk to the Dark Knight. Jean, you go with Cap to the mechanical bay to help explain what's happened. The rest of you should report to Nightwing for another round in his Gauntlet for going out there unsupervised."

"Seeker—"

"Don't 'Seeker' me, Pym; you know the rules." Seeker fixed the boy with a meaningful look, causing him to duck his head in response. "Come on, you two. Let's go talk to Batman about what's just happened."

James nodded, then looked back at Myra and motioned for her to follow him. She remained where she was for a moment, but then Torunn gave her a nudge forward.

"Go on." Torunn grinned. "The Dark Knight doesn't bite, especially when Seeker's there to back you up."

Myra swallowed, then looked up at Captain America.

The man noticed her gaze and gave her a slight smile in response that was probably meant to be encouraging. "It'll be all right."

Myra hesitated again, then nodded a little and followed after James and Seeker. As she followed after tem, she looked back and watched as Captain America and Jean went in one direction and Azari, Torunn, and Pym went in another.

"S-so, what now?" Myra asked.

"Let's cover what you know about the world first," Seeker replied. "I'd rather not have Batman or any one of us be forced to cover everything if you know most of what's going on already."

Myra swallowed. "Okay then. Well, I know that a bunch of worlds were merged together in a World Collision, but they didn't merge right in some places, and that's what's basically causing the Time Barriers that tend to warp the time of whoever goes through them. I know that whatever monsters were in charge of causing that  _also_  didn't come from any of those dimensions, and they've basically been attempting to rule with an iron fist ever since."

"You mean the MindTech," James interrupted.

"I was getting to that." Myra frowned at him. "The MindTech was something they came up with when people tried to rise up against them – I don't really remember much of that point in time, but I remember that it happened." She scratched her head. "I don't really remember what  _before_  was like either, but that doesn't matter when nothing can go back to normal, right?"

Seeker said nothing in response, but he cocked his head to one side.

"A-anyway, they've been looking for people to stick up in that tower that's in the middle of everything ever since, and it's been getting harder and harder to avoid them dragging you off to their Trials. I was pretty sure I was going to be taken when…when that girl—"

"You don't need to say any more." Seeker turned and looked over at Myra as they passed a small group of huts. "You've got enough street smarts to know that life was different before this and what exactly is going on. That's good."

"It is?" Myra blinked.

"Yes. Because it means you can help, even in some small way. In fact, you already have. By rescuing—" Seeker stopped moving for a moment, looking like there was something in his mouth that he really wanted to get out but had to keep in at the same time. After a moment, he continued, "By rescuing  _the World Jumper,_  you've done us a pretty big turn."

Myra blinked slowly a couple times, absorbing that. "I…wait, is this the same World Jumper who was said to have been some kind of fox in a past life?"

Seeker raised an eyebrow at that. "Past life? I think you might have misheard. She was transformed into a Vulpix, then had it reversed." He chuckled as Myra ducked her head. "It's all right; things have been more than a little vague about her for a while. I think a lot more details are going to become solidified over the course of the next few days, however, so don't be surprised if a lot of what you thought before ends up getting dashed to pieces."

"You knew her from before, Seeker?" James spoke up.

"Something like that." Seeker started moving towards the pile of technology in one corner of the large chamber. "Step lively, you two. We have to talk to the Bat before he gets out of range for communication again, and who knows how long that's going to be for, what with all the time warping around us."

Myra and James both picked up the pace as they followed after Seeker, exchanging odd looks before focusing on him.

Whatever was going on, Myra was starting to wonder if she was ever going to get answers.


	3. Settling In

"Luthor!" Seeker stopped in front of the large circle of technology that was in an area of the large chamber that was closer to the outer wall. "Get over here! We have to connect up to the Watchtower as soon as possible!"

" _Now?"_  A bald man pushed himself out from under one of the computer consoles and sat up, glaring at Seeker in an irritated manner.

"Yes, now. Get Brainiac and get the connection set up." Seeker fixed the man with a frown that sent chills down Myra's spine and made the bald man stiffen instantly. He was able to recover quickly from it, however, and was soon back with a grumpy persona.

"All right, all right! Just give me a moment!" The man turned and stalked over to somewhere hidden behind a couple computer towers.

"Why is it that Luthor is the one who was given permission to do this?" James asked, frowning. "Why not Gear, or Forge?"

"Because he knows how to get into the Watchtower's security systems better than anyone else," Seeker replied. "That, and we needed something to keep him and Brainiac busy."

"Who?" Myra asked in confusion.

The large screen that towered over the computer equipment started to fizz and spit, and Luthor came back out from behind the computer towers, followed shortly by a blue-green-skinned man in a purple jumpsuit with three bright green circles arranged in a triangle on his forehead.

"The connection is being established as we speak," the strangely-colored man said in a monotone. "It should be established in five seconds."

"I'll five seconds you, you stupid bucket of bolts," Luthor muttered in response as he scrambled over to the computer console and started pushing buttons.

Myra watched with an expression of confusion and surprise as the screen fizzed and spat with static for a moment longer before the picture cleared, revealing a circular room that looked like a laboratory of some kind, if the computer screens and everything else were something to go by.

She wasn't able to see the devices too well, though, because of the dark shadow of a figure that was taking up a good portion of the screen.

"Batman," Seeker greeted.

The shadowy figure inclined his head, and Myra realized with a jolt that she was looking at a  _person,_  not a shadow. _::Seeker. What's happened?::_

"We've found her. This girl –" Seeker motioned to Myra "—was being chased by Captain America. She stumbled across the World Jumper and she snapped Cap out of the control that the Dark Arms had over him; he's taking her to the mechanics to have her looked over now."

 _::Are you sure he's in control of himself?::_  Batman asked grimly in response.

"Jean checked him, and his aura isn't pointed like the others are." Seeker gave a determined nod. "He's back."

Batman shifted slightly at that, inclining his head sharply.  _::How?::_

Seeker looked over at Myra and motioned with his head towards the computer screen.

Myra pointed at herself as her eyes widened in surprise. "Y-you want  _me_  to tell him?"

"You were there," Seeker pointed out.

Myra swallowed at that, then looked up at the dark figure on the screen. "U-uh, well, I was running from th-the Gladiator – Captain America, I guess – when I got cornered in some kind of lab. I thought I was done, but…the World Jumper exploded out from some kind of…glass chamber or something – and I think she burned the MindTech off the back of his neck."

Batman remained silent, his gaze boring into Myra and making her shifted uneasily. His eyes narrowed after a moment, and he returned his attention to James. _::While it is good to see that you managed to succeed, I shouldn't need to remind you that you could have been placed in the same situation as the others who tried to do the same thing::_

"I know," James responded. Myra looked at him with a confused expression.

_::Which is why I'm going to make sure that Nightwing knows not to send you on any missions until you can learn to follow orders and not act so recklessly::_

_That_  statement managed to get through James' calm expression. "What?!"

 _::Aw, come on, Bats, don't be so hard on the kid::_  A red-and-gold blur appeared in the background.  _::He just wanted to get his dad back; is that so much of a problem?::_

Batman turned his head to glare at the figure behind him, and the red-and-gold figure raised his hands while gaining a somewhat nervous expression.

_::I was just thinkin' that he'd be better off with a different punishment, that's all. I mean, he came back with Cap and Bot Girl - tell her Flash says "hi" when she wakes up, by the way!::_

Seeker gave a nod when the last part of the statement was directed in his direction.

 _::We'll talk again when she's operational::_  Batman stated.

With that, the screen turned to static rather abruptly as a screech suddenly ripped through the air.

Luthor uttered a curse and turned off the sound and the screen before turning to look at the group. "Well? What are you waiting for? An invitation?" He snorted. "Get going and leave me in peace, all of you."

Seeker waved off Luthor's glare and turned to look at James and Myra. "James, go report in to Nightwing."

"What about her?" James nodded to Myra.

"I'm going to make sure she's settled in," Seeker replied. "There are a few shacks that are only half-full."

"So she  _is_  staying?" James looked at Myra, who looked between them with concern and confusion.

"What if I don't want to?" Myra responded. "I don't think that—"

"You don't really have anywhere else to go that is more safe than this." Seeker put a hand on Myra's shoulder. "And besides, if you were caught now, we could be quickly found out, and then the Dark Arms would have their way with every single person in the Multiverse. We don't want that to happen."

Myra blinked a couple times, looking uncertain.

"Crystal doesn't have a roommate, unless you count the monster that hides under her bed and refuses to come out," James suggested. "It might be a good idea to balance things out."

"Probably." Seeker nodded. "Get going to Nightwing's Gauntlet; I'll handle things from here."

James nodded, then turned and ran off; Seeker turned Myra away and started towards the huts that they had passed by on the way towards Luthor and the large screen.

"Who are you people?" Myra asked as they left Luthor behind. "Why haven't I heard of people fighting against them before?"

"We used to be a lot more open," Seeker replied, "but we had to go underground rather quickly, since the Dark Arms were trying to find and bring a large number of us under their control. They haven't taken any recently, which I'm thankful for, but it either means they haven't found us or they haven't had a reason to come after us, since we haven't been able to make any moves as of late."

"They're still looking for people," Myra said. "They almost had me."

"They've turned their attention to civilians, then." Seeker's mouth stretched into a thin line. "We don't have much time left to us."

The duo soon reached the collection of huts that Myra had passed through on the way to where Luthor was; Seeker looked around while Myra stared at them in proper confusion.

"How did you get these in here?" Myra asked. "Where  _is_  here?"

"It's an old colosseum from Spargus." Seeker paused. "Or, rather, what's left of it. Any obstacle courses and battle equipment was either hidden away or destroyed before we got here. All the better for us – we have more room for refugees from different Zones that used to be different dimensions. Mar's people – the people of Spargus – were willing to share this space with us, so long as they aren't involved in going out and scouting out the Dark Arms, and we've kept up with that."

"O-oh." Myra's gaze went up to the figures painted on the walls above them again. "I guess…that's them, then?"

"Yup. Mostly the missing prince, Mar. They're hoping that we find him at some point in the future, but we haven't heard much about him yet."

It didn't take too long to find the "Crystal" that James had mentioned before Seeker and sent him off to Nightwing – whoever that was.

Myra couldn't help but gape a little at the person that she was going to end up rooming with.

"Hi," the teenage girl greeted, a hesitant smile on her face. It didn't seem to quite reach her eyes. "I'm Crystal."

"Uh...hi." Myra forced her violet eyes away from the twitching pink cat ears that were on top of Crystal's head and locked them with Crystal's blue eyes. "I haven't seen anyone like you before."

"I don't go out into the open and run around with everybody else," Crystal explained, as though that was enough to be said. Her smile faded slightly. "As much as I would like to."

"You know that if they grabbed you they would mistake you for someone else," Seeker replied. "And regardless of that, you are a powerful person."

"Yes, but I still want to help!" Crystal shot back. "Seeker, you know that—"

"I know. But things are going to change soon, I promise." Seeker motioned to Myra. "You and Myra are going to be rooming together for now. I've got some things that I need to go and look into; I trust that you'll get along?"

Crystal's long, pink tail twitched irritably, but she nodded. "We'll be okay, Aura Seeker."

Seeker nodded, then patted Myra on the shoulder. "I'll leave you to it." With that, he turned and walked off in another direction; Myra watched him go for a moment before looking back at Crystal.

"Umm….." Myra rubbed her left arm somewhat nervously. "S-so, what now?"

Crystal sighed and folded her arms across her chest. "Do you mind if you take top bunk? I'm used to sleeping closer to the ground, and our other roommate sleeps underneath the bed."

 _"Other_  roommate?"

Crystal nodded. "Yeah. Pitch Black, the Nightmare King."

A dark laugh came from the hut behind Crystal, sending a chill down Myra's spine.

Crystal looked back over her shoulder. "Pitch, don't scare her."

**_"I don't need to. She already is afraid of where she is."_ **

Myra stiffened up at the dark, smooth voice that seemed to roll out of the shadows. "U-uh—"

"Don't listen to him." Crystal put a hand on Myra's shoulder, a confident gleam in her eye. "He's just grumpy because he doesn't have a good reason to come out from under the bed. Top bunk's the furthest you're going to be able to keep away from him, so you can take that."

"You  _want_  to be closer to him?" Myra gulped.

Crystal paused at the question, then sighed and shook her head. "I don't want to. But I've faced fear head-on, so I can handle him better." She looked at Myra for a moment, then cocked her head to one side slightly. "I guess you've got a few questions?"

"What makes you think I have questions?"

"That look on your face." Crystal gave a dry smirk. "I'm able to read people's emotions pretty well."

Myra blinked a couple times, not having expected Crystal to say that.

"I've seen a lot of things, but I don't think that I've seen someone with...the  _features_  that you have," Myra said carefully.

"Oh, these?" Crystal touched a cat-like ear lightly with one hand, looking strangely amused as the ears twitched. "I've had them for a long time. As long as I've been alive, in fact." She gained a curious expression. "You don't recognize the ears and tail of a Mew, do you?"

"A Mew?" Myra repeated, confused.

"Yeah; they're—"

_FWOOM!_

"Get out of the way! She's going on a rampage!"

"Someone get someone who's fire proof!"

Myra turned sharply when she heard the noise, and her eyes widened in alarm and shock when she saw a blast of flame and smoke rising up from the wall of the colosseum. She instinctively started to run towards the blast zone.

"H-hey! Wait!" Crystal ran up next to Myra, keeping in-step with her. "Whoever did that feels pretty dangerous - it's almost like a Legendary going on a rampage!"

Myra ignored the last part of Crystal's comment. "Then why are you following me?"

"Because I know how to take on this kind of thing." Crystal clenched a fist. "I don't know about you, but I've taken on dragons before."

"You two! Get away from there!"

Myra nearly came skidding to a stop when she heard the familiar voice. "Captain?"

The star-spangled Avenger suddenly ran in front of Myra and Crystal, putting himself between them and the flaming figure, which was presently trying to fight against a group of masked teenagers.

"I'm not about to allow you to get into any more danger than you already are in," Captain America said seriously, glaring at the two of them.

"What's going on?" Crystal asked, looking up at the Avenger with wide eyes. "And since when did you get back?"

_"Get away from me!"_

Myra stiffened when she heard the angry - but also  _scared_  - roar. It sounded like someone who wasn't entirely there, and what part of them that was didn't seem to be very friendly.

Captain America noticed the look that was coming over Myra's face, and he gave her a curious frown. "Myra..."

"I think I know how to stop her," Myra said.

"Her?" Crystal looked at Myra in surprise.

Myra didn't answer; instead, she ran around Captain America and went straight for the crowd of costumed teens - and the fire that was burning in the center of that.

"Hey, what are you -"

Myra pushed past James and Torrun before they could do anything to keep her out of the circle...which, inside, had someone standing defensively with a dark snarl on her face, flames licking at her armor.

Myra caught the World Jumper's attention instantly. She turned sharply, blank white eyes focusing on Myra. The World Jumper started towards her, the snarl sharpening.

Myra took in a breath.  _Please let this work._

"World Jumper! Stop! You're among friends!"

The reaction was instantaneous.

The red, orange, and gray-armored girl stopped short, her eyes widening into an expression of shock as blue eyes suddenly flickered into existence. The shock turned into pain a moment later as the World Jumper gripped her head and collapsed to her knees with a scream.

Myra stepped back in shock, staring at the girl. It almost sounded like...she had been broken somehow.

Someone moved past her, and Myra looked up in surprise as Captain America moved forward and picked her up carefully in his arms.

"It's okay," Captain America murmured, rising to his feet. "You're safe."

The World Jumper buried her head in the Avenger's chest, her shoulders shaking as she wept. Captain America remained standing there until the armored girl in his arms stilled.

Captain America looked down at the girl in his arms for a moment before turning his attention to Myra. "Come on." He turned and started walking; Myra trailed after him.

"I'll see you later, then!" Crystal called after Myra; she raised a hand and looked back at the "Mew girl" in response.

"What happened?" Myra asked, turning her attention to the Avenger.

"The World Jumper went berserk is what happened," James responded, falling into step next to her. "Dad said they were trying to repair her and she woke up before they could even start taking off her armor."

Myra frowned at that, surprised at the idea that the World Jumper had lost control of herself. "What made her go off like that?"

Captain America looked over at Myra with a frown. "You found her in a lab. My guess is that they did something to her and the attempts at repairs awoke her defenses."

"…oh." Myra shrank down a little at the thought, shuddering. Imagining a dark figure sort of hovering over her, sharp claws and glowing red eyes coming in close, sent chills down her spine in a way that she absolutely hated.

"…it might be a good idea if you're there when they start again."

"H-huh?!" Myra looked up sharply at that, wide-eyed.  _"Me?!"_

"You managed to stop her just now," James spoke up. "It only makes sense that you should be nearby to keep her from going berserk again."

Myra nearly stumbled at James had said as the World Jumper's pained scream came back into her mind. "You really think that I'm going to be able to do something to keep her from going crazy?"

"You were there when she first woke up," Captain America fixed a pointed look at Myra. "She might be able to sense that you are there and recognize you."

"Y-you think so?" Myra swallowed.

"It's more than likely. And if you don't work, we can always go and get Aura Seeker." With that, Captain America turned his attention back to where they were going.

Myra swallowed nervously. She wasn't sure what it was that Captain America was expecting her to do, but whatever it was, she hoped that she'd be able to help.


	4. Important Roles

Myra wasn't exactly sure what to think of the mechanics who were attempting to work on the World Jumper. One was an old man, one was a robot that  _looked_  like an old man, and one was a towering robot colored in red and white with heart rate lines painted onto his arms.

Plus, two of them actually  _acted_  like they knew who the World Jumper was, which she had once thought impossible.

Although, considering that Seeker and Captain America already knew her, that thought was fading fast.

"Thank Primus she didn't damage herself any further." The giant robot held out a hand, and Captain America carefully moved the World Jumper out of his arms.

"We were lucky that Myra was there to get to her in time," the Avenger explained as the robot moved the World Jumper to a metal table nearby. "If it wasn't for her, I doubt we would have been able to get close, much less  _stop_  her."

"I'm not surprised."

Myra turned her head sharply when she heard the unfamiliar voice, and she caught sight of a figure leaning against the doorframe, wearing mostly red and white armor and with a bright yellow ponytail sticking out the back of his helmet.

"I've seen what she can do when she isn't in  _partial_  control of herself," the figure continued. "And  _that_  was when she was at full strength."

Myra frowned in confusion. "Who -"

"Zero, you knew her?" the old man who wasn't a robot asked in surprise.

"Yeah. She was around for that Limited crisis that I told you about." Zero looked over at the old man. "You should probably get yourself introduced to her properly when you wake her up, or else who knows what's going to happen."

"Considering her present state, I'm not surprised that she didn't recognize me," commented the giant red and white robot. "And who might you be, young lady?"

It took Myra a moment to realize that the robot was talking about  _her_. "My name's Myra."

"Greetings, Myra. I am Ratchet. I understand that you were present when..." Ratchet paused. "When the World Jumper was awakened."

Myra swallowed and nodded. "Y-yeah."

"All right. Cain and Serges-" The old scientist and the old man robot both nodded in turn "-are going to cycle Energon through her systems in order to activate them enough to awaken her. Myra, we are going to require you to say something in order to awaken her higher core processing before her defenses rise up and make themselves known. Are you prepared?"

Myra absorbed this with a slightly open-mouthed expression that showed her confusion. Then she blinked and swallowed. "I-I've got it, yeah. I don't know if I'm going to be enough, but yeah."

"All right." Serges gave a wide grin before running over and grabbing a pipe that was partially filled with blue liquid. He ran over to the World Jumper and pried off some of the armor that was covering her right arm before sticking the pipe inside. Then he retreated a moment later as the blue liquid started moving forward.

It didn't take too long before the World Jumper's head started to move, her eyelids flickering. When her body started to stiffen and strain against the straps that were keeping her limbs in place, Myra sucked in a breath again.

"World Jumper?" she asked. "I-it's me. I-I'm the one you saved a little while ago?"

The World Jumper didn't seem to respond for a moment, turning her head this way and that as she strained against the bonds.

"W-World Jumper?" Myra asked, her voice squeaking as she spoke more loudly.

The World Jumper paused at Myra's voice, then her eyes cracked open slowly. The blue color was dull, and she had a grim expression on her face.

The World Jumper grunted. "Where...?"

"You're in Mar's Haven," the scientist with the beard replied. "I'm Doctor Cain, and these are my associates - the Autobot Ratchet and Serges."

The World Jumper's eyes flickered with recognition, and she seemed to relax slightly. "Why...am I here?"

Myra frowned, concerned. The World Jumper sounded tired and hoarse.

"Steve Rogers brought you back from an abandoned laboratory," Ratchet explained from above them. "Whatever it was that happened to you, it damaged a large amount of your inner systems irreversibly."

" _I_  wanted to go forward with the upgrades, but  _these_  two thought it was a good idea to ask first." Serges said contemptuously.

The World Jumper's eyes narrowed. "Don't touch my programs or my core. Otherwise... Wake me when you're done."

With that, the World Jumper closed her eyes as her body went limp.

"Well, there's your permission," Zero commented dryly. He turned and started to step away from the lab, then paused. "The rest of you might want to get out of here, unless you really want to see her get torn open." With that, the armored blond stepped out and disappeared from sight.

Myra blinked, looking at where Zero had been standing a moment before, then looked over at the others, watching as Serges and Cain started to take apart the World Jumper's armor, exposing wires and what looked like meshing pieces of metal.

"What..."

Captain America placed a hand on Myra's shoulder, causing her to look up at the Avenger.

"Come on. Let's leave them to their work." Captain America directed Myra out of the lab.

"Ratchet!" Serges screeched. "Get me the—"

The door to the mechanics' lab closed behind them, cutting the screech off.

They were nearly back to the huts when Captain America spoke again.

"If you have any questions about her, you can go ahead and ask," the Avenger said.

Myra asked immediately what was on her mind. "What was with the wires and things hiding under the World Jumper's armor? According to the stories I heard, she was human."

"She  _was_ ," James piped up, reminding Myra that Captain America's son was still nearby. "She isn't now."

"How? You can't just be transformed like that." Myra saw something flicker across Captain America's face, and she frowned. "C-can you?"

"I've heard of technology that can turn someone into a robot, but I haven't come across it myself," Captain America responded with a shake of his head. He was about to continue, but then he paused for a moment before he kept going. "The World Jumper was a different case. From what I can remember her telling me, she ran into an accident the third time she left her home world. She wouldn't have survived had it not been for a man named Dr. Light. I'm not sure of what process he used, but he basically transferred her soul into the body of a robot."

"Transferred her soul...?" Myra's eyes widened at that. "But isn't that impossible?"

"When you've seen crazier things than that, it's kind of hard to say what is and isn't impossible," James responded dryly. "I mean, this  _version_  of Cap isn't related to me by blood." He jabbed a thumb at the Avenger. "My  _real_  dad is dead."

The serious statement caused Myra to stop walking. "What?"

"You are familiar with the idea of there being other worlds, right?" James looked at Myra curiously as she hesitated for a moment before giving a slight nod.

"Yeah. The World Jumper's stories mentioned a lot of things like that, and I know that this place was multiple worlds before." Myra frowned. "But why-"

"Some of these other worlds are nearly identical except for a few minor things," James continued. "For example, my dad and his team of Avengers ended up facing a nasty opponent called Ultron. The only ones who managed to survive were Iron Man, the Hulk, Hawkeye, and Thor. Everybody else lost their lives fighting that robot." James sent a sidelong look up at Captain America. "My world's dimension collapsed, and my team survived when we were kicked over to his world by our dimension's Iron Man. We had some time to adjust before all the other worlds got merged together."

Myra blinked a couple times when she heard that. "You're serious?"

"Unfortunately." Captain America let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "We had some trouble with Kang because he was trying to wipe them out of existence, but we managed to  _convince_  him to let them stay."

James grinned a little, but that wavered a couple seconds later before he regained his serious expression. "I'm glad that I got to know my dad - even if he isn't my dimension's version of him. Now we just have to make sure that everyone else can get happy endings."

Myra didn't even need to consider James' statement as she nodded in agreement. "Right."

The father-son duo dropped Myra off at her hut, and as soon as she stepped through the door into the small room – which had nothing more than a bunk bed set – Crystal practically jumped her.

"What was that back there?" Crystal asked in an eager - and concerned - voice. "Do you have a connection with...that person, somehow?"

"Uh..." Myra blinked a couple times. "I guess so? I was there when she woke up, so I guess that I managed to get some kind of level of trust."

"Okay." Crystal backed up, letting Myra into the room as she went and sat down on the lower of the two bunks. "Do you know what she is? Because she felt strange."

"I know she's some kind of robot and that World Jumper that's been talked about all over the place."

Crystal blinked. "I knew about the World Jumper part, but I didn't know that she was some kind of robot."

Myra reeled back in surprise. "You did? How?!"

"I met her a friend of hers." Crystal smiled brightly. "I saved her friend's life, too. Apparently, the World Jumper was off saving another world, so she couldn't come and help her friend."

"Save a world?" Myra couldn't believe what it was that Crystal was saying. "Seriously?"

"Yup!" Crystal's ears and tail twitched upward as her smile almost seemed to brighten. "Khrista told me that my Ranger friend, Aria, looks just like the World Jumper." Her smiled faded a little. "And then all this happened."

Myra sobered up. "Yeah. I guess so. Is your friend...?"

Crystal's ears folded back as her tail fell onto the bed, and she gave a slight nod. "Yeah. I've been wondering if I can go out and find her, but...well, they're probably going to end up with a pretty powerful...pawn, I think is the right word."

"Oh." Myra sobered up a little. "You're really that strong?"

Crystal nodded, looking subdued. "You were wondering about my ears and tail earlier, right?" When Myra nodded in response, Crystal continued, "I was the result of an experiment that took place on my world about eleven years ago. This group of people called Team Rocket decided that they wanted to make the strongest creature in existence. I was a side project that one of the scientists did."

Myra blinked a couple times when she heard that. "Seriously? You're something that they  _made_?"

Crystal looked up at Myra with an unhappy expression. "Yeah. I'm a mix of human and Pokémon DNA – Pokémon are creatures that live on my world. They help humans with everyday tasks, and some have even formed teams that spar against other teams for fun - it's a big part of the culture there. There are some creatures that are inherently stronger than others, and the Pokémon DNA I have is from what's considered to be the strongest and rarest by a lot of people."

"So, you have the powers of that...Pokémon?" Myra raised an eyebrow.

Crystal nodded. "Mew - the Pokémon I share DNA with - is a little pink creature that I've been told looks like a creature called a 'cat' from other places. They can use any and every ability that other Pokémon can use. So, for example, some Pokémon can speak to others using their minds..."

_"...and so can I."_

Myra jumped when she heard Crystal's voice echo in her head. "Whoa!"

Crystal smiled a little at Myra's surprise. "Yeah. That's how a lot of people react when they find out. I was pretty surprised when Professor X and Jean were able to talk to me in the same way - I didn't know that humans could do something like that."

"Well, humans can be pretty surprising sometimes..." Myra trailed off as a yawn forced its way out.

Crystal blinked at that, then gave a slight smile. "You must be pretty tired after everything that's happened. Why don't you go ahead and sleep for a while? Nobody's going to try and get the jump on you around here."

Myra blinked, frowning a little at Crystal's statement. "Has that happened before?"

"A couple times. I don't think that anyone's tried it in a long time, though." Crystal shrugged. "We can take turns sleeping for a while, if you want. Wherever you were before, you probably weren't able to relax for too long."

Myra felt a chill run down her spine as she remembered that she had been on the run from a group of rather nasty-looking people before she had come across the World Jumper. When another yawn snuck out of her, she realized that getting some sleep might not actually be a bad idea.

"Yeah...sleep sounds pretty good right now." Myra made her way over to her bed. "Not really much else to do right now, anyway."

Crystal hummed in response to the statement, then bobbed her head. "Not right now, anyway. I'll wake you if anything important happens, okay?"

Myra gave Crystal a nod. "Yeah. Sounds good." Then she crawled under the covers of the bed - which was a lot softer than the other places she had been hiding in previously - and she slowly drifted off...

**Time Break**

When Myra awoke, she rolled over and looked over the edge of the bed. She blinked when she found out that Crystal was nowhere in sight.

Myra frowned. "I wonder where Crystal went..." She slipped off the bed and landed on the floor of the room. After looking around for a moment longer, she paused and shook her head. "She probably has things that she can do around here..."

**_"Quite. And you seem to have a role that you are able to play as well."_ **

Myra squeaked and scrambled back against the other wall as the voice came out from under the bed. She stared with wide eyes as a pair of glowing yellow eyes peered out from underneath Crystal's lower bed.

"Th-the Nightmare King…." Myra swallowed, color draining from her face.

There came a dark chuckle from below the bed.  ** _"Your fear of me is delicious, child, but you have no reason to be. I do not intend harm on those here. The creatures outside this haven, however, have great reason to have fear for what they have done. However, as much as I'd like to leave you alone, there's something about you that's different from the other kids I've followed around."_**

"S-something different?" Myra swallowed. "Wh-what is it?"

 ** _"I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually."_**  The shadow chuckled again.

Myra's forehead furrowed as she frowned. "I have been getting the feeling that a lot of people are going to be telling me that and I don't like it. You said you've been following people around – do you know anything about what's happened with the World Jumper?"

The Nightmare King blinked.  ** _"The World Jumper? You mean that child that the red, white, and blue Avenger carried in with you?"_**  A shadowy limb that looked like an arm came out from under the bed and made a waving motion, then retreated back under the bed.  ** _"Never met her."_**

"But you know about her," Myra insisted.

 ** _"I've only heard stories, but I can say with certainty that she's going to be the only World Jumper you're going to find around here. Only one per section of the Multiverse, depending on how many people get dragged off-world."_**  The Nightmare King grumbled something, then continued speaking at his normal volume.  ** _"Those monsters don't like her, either. That's probably why they locked her away and picked her to pieces."_**

"The Dark Arms?" Myra blinked, then flinched back as the Nightmare King snarled.

 ** _"Yes. Them."_**  The figure under the bed growled again.  ** _"They have made it very difficult for us to reverse what has been done, and they have made it impossible to say the World Jumper's name."_**

Myra frowned. "The World Jumper's name?"

**_"Yes. You do know that she has one, don't you?"_ **

Myra blinked in confusion. "W-well, I should think that she does…."

**_"Do you know it?"_ **

Myra paused at the question, brow furrowing. "N-no. But that's because no one ever says it."

**_"And why is that, Myra Arym?"_ **

Myra opened her mouth to answer, then stopped, blinking. "H-how do you know  _my_  name?"

 ** _"I know a large number of things._** " The Nightmare King chuckled darkly.  ** _"If you want some answers, you will have to find them yourself!"_**

Before Myra could ask him what  _that_  meant, the darkness under the bed seemed to become less opaque as the yellow eyes disappeared from sight.

Crystal stuck her head in. "I heard Pitch talking. Is he still—" She cut herself off when she saw the absence of the yellow eyes under the bed. "I just missed him. Shoot."

"You wanted to talk to him?" Myra frowned in confusion.

"I did, but now I'm just hoping that he's listening. There's something going on in the Dark City Zone."

Myra cocked her head slightly at the statement. "What do you mean?"

Crystal's expression brightened when the subject changed. "I've been out and about listening to what's been going on, and it sounds like there's been a bit of a ruckus at the place where you guys found the World Jumper! There's Mind Tech'd people crawling all over the place! It sounds like some people are getting ready to get into the action again!"

Myra blinked in surprise when she saw that Crystal's eyes were practically shining out of eagerness. She frowned. "You mean they weren't active before?"

Crystal shook her head. "I've never been involved in that kind of stuff because-" She motioned to her Mew ears "-but I've heard that we haven't been able to do much against the monsters, and they haven't been able to find us because we've been laying low for so long. Now that Captain America's back  _and_  we have the World Jumper, they're going to be looking for us a lot more, and we might be able to start striking back - and maybe we'll be able to get people back, too!"

Myra blinked a couple times as she absorbed what Crystal had just said, trying to wrap her head around the fact that Crystal was  _excited_ that  _they_  were after them after they had been living under the radar for some time. She frowned. "You do realize that there's a chance that  _they_  could find us and finish us off once and for all now, right?"

Crystal frowned for a moment, then shook her head. "I'm not too worried about that. We have the Justice League up in the Watchtower, and they'll come down if we need the help." She grinned. "Besides, when the World Jumper's fixed, we'll have her help, too! She'll be able to rescue more people than ever thanks to her! I mean, she got Captain America back - she could get everyone else rescued, too!"

Myra's frown deepened. "...isn't that a lot to be putting on one person's shoulders?"

"She's done stuff like that before," Crystal chirped in response. "I told you about how she was off saving a world when I saved her friend, remember?"

It took Myra a moment to remember that Crystal had said something about it before she had gotten some rest. "You did mention it."

"So something like this isn't going to be too much of a problem - especially with the rest of us to back her up!" Crystal insisted. She looked strangely giddy. "I can't wait to meet her!"

Before Myra could respond to that, she suddenly felt a wave of pressure come over her, making her want to scramble under the covers of her bed and  _hide._  While she flinched in that direction, Crystal responded in a similar fashion, her eyes widening as her ears plastered themselves against the top of her head.

"Dark-Types..." Crystal murmured fearfully.

 ** _"It isn't going to be as easy as you think it is, child of Mew,"_**  snorted the Nightmare King from under the bed.  ** _"Do you really think that the World Jumper is going to sweep our opponents? When they've picked her apart and put her back together?"_**

The pressure was suddenly released, leaving Myra gasping for breath. Crystal looked shaken.

"Ho-ly Arceus." Crystal shuddered. "I  _really_  hate it when he does that."

"H-how often d-does he do that?" Myra shivered. "I-it almost felt like there was something pushing down on my head…."

Crystal took in a shaky breath and breathed out slowly, forcing herself to relax. "N-not often. I-I guess he wanted to make a point." She took in another breath and stood with her eyes closed for a moment before her eyes snapped open. "Oh, yeah! Seeker came by - he said to let you know that the World Jumper's fixed up, and that they want you there to officially meet her!"

Myra's head shot up in surprise. "What?! Already? But they only just got her so that they could do the repairs!"

"Time has been warped, remember?" Crystal gave a shrug. "I don't know what exactly happened, myself, but I know that Dialga must be throwing a fit - wherever he is." She motioned for Myra to follow her outside as she opened the door again. "Come on! We've got to go meet the World Jumper!"


	5. Meeting the World Jumper

When the two girls arrived at the workshop where Myra knew the World Jumper had been taken, Myra was somewhat surprised to find that, not only Captain America was there, but also a small number of other costumed and armored heroes that she had only been really able to see in passing before.

"What are you guys doing here?" Myra asked, looking around in confusion at the small group. "Is it because of the World Jumper?"

She was met with a number of nods in response.

"She's worked with all of us," explained a young man wearing blue armor. His green eyes somehow looked old. "We thought it might be a good idea to have familiar faces nearby to start with."

The figure next to him - Zero, Myra remembered his name from when she had run into him - let out a snort. "And they don't want her to go berserk again."

"I...I guess they would be kind of worried about that." Myra looked away at the way she had come from, wondering if she should just head back and let those familiar with the World Jumper handle her. Then she felt something press against her shoulder, and she looked up.

"It will be all right," Captain America said.

Myra blinked at that, then gave a slight nod in response. Taking in a breath, she forced herself to calm down a bit before looking over at the doorway. "Is she..."

"They're working her through basic tests to make sure that everything's still working as it should," the blue-armored man explained. "Considering the extensive damage, it's probably going to take some time before we'll be able to see her." He paused. "My name is Xavier, by the way. Everyone calls me either X or MegaMan X."

Myra, who had been surprised by the man's name, blinked for a moment before nodding. "I'm Myra, but I guess you already knew that."

"Considering that you and your half-Mew friend are the only ones who just joined the group, you could say that."

Myra turned her head when she heard the new voice, and she blinked a bit when she found herself looking into the tinted green visor of a teenage boy's helmet.

"I'm Gear." The boy held out a hand for Myra to shake; she gripped his hand. "I'm a techno-telepath."

"Techno-telepath?" Myra blinked in confusion.

"I can talk to computers." Gear shrugged. "It's just been a gift of mine."

Myra was about to say something else when the familiar figure of Dr. Cain appeared in the doorway.

"We've finished the last of the diagnostics," Dr. Cain said, nodding to the group. "She might need some room, however - there are a lot of new parts that she needs to get used to including a new configuration for her weapons system."

"Did you give her an overhaul?" Zero asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We simply provided the materials; her systems did most of the work. I suppose you could say that she is the reason we managed to finish our work so quickly." Cain stepped out of the doorway, turning to face a figure who was behind him. "Are you ready?"

There wasn't a verbal response to Cain's question - not one that Myra could hear, anyway. However, she  _did_  hear the sound of footsteps as a figure emerged from beyond the doorway, leaning against something that added a third, wooden  _clunk_  to the sound of the footsteps.

The figure that emerged looked almost nothing like the armored teenage girl that Myra had seen in the abandoned laboratory. Yes, the hair, eyes, and face were the same, but the World Jumper was no longer wearing armor of any kind - instead, she was wearing regular clothes: a red shirt, an orange jacket, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes with three red, vertical stripes on either side. In her hand was a tall, wooden staff painted red, with a phoenix carved into the top, wings partially curled around, as though it was protecting something.

However, it wasn't so much her outfit as it was her face that caught most of Myra's attention. The World Jumper looked so serious that it was hard  _not_ to wonder how a teenager had managed to get such a look on her face in the first place.

The World Jumper looked around the small group of people that was in front of the workshop for a moment, nodding in greeting to most of them and giving small smiles. When she caught sight of Crystal and Myra, however, the smile faded some, and her eyes almost seemed to widen.

"Khrista?"

Myra couldn't help but stare in surprise at the soft, questioning voice that the World Jumper had right at that moment.

The World Jumper blinked for a moment, then shook her head, frowning. "No, that's not it..."

"I'm Crystal," Crystal said, getting the World Jumper's attention. "Khrista came to my world once. I'm her counterpart."

Recognition crossed the World Jumper's face a moment later, and she gave a nod. "It's good to see you here, and not elsewhere." She looked over at Myra then, and Myra couldn't help but feel nervous as she felt the World Jumper's eyes bore into her. "You must be Myra, then."

Myra looked at the World Jumper and swallowed a bit before nodding. "Th-that's right."

The World Jumper came closer to Myra, making the girl feel even more nervous as the other came to a stop a short distance in front of Myra. "I want to thank you. If it wasn't for you, I'm not sure what would have happened to me or to the others who have been forced to come together on this world."

Myra jumped a bit, startled at the World Jumper's statement. "U-uh, w-well...your welcome, I guess?"

The World Jumper blinked for a moment, before giving a small, almost unnoticeable smile. The expression was gone in an instant, however, and she turned her attention to Captain America. "Cain and Ratchet said I should speak with Bruce about what the situation is; other than the taboo that I know was placed on my name, I have been out of the loop on resistance activities."

"A taboo?" Myra flinched back when she realized she had spoken her question aloud.

The World Jumper moved her gaze to look at Myra. "Yes. Somehow, they have become aware of the location of someone who uses my name in when they speak. I didn't think that it was possible for anyone to make something that looked for something so specific."

"A few people think it's magic," Gear commented with a disbelieving expression.

There came a snort from Zero. "Considering what's happened since this whole thing started, I'm not exactly sure  _what_  to believe anymore."

"Batman seems to know the most about what is going on," Captain America added, gaining the World Jumper's attention again. "He and most of the Justice League have been staying up in the Watchtower." He paused. "Flash says 'hi,' by the way."

The World Jumper frowned disapprovingly. "I should think that Batman would have been sneaking around and causing havoc in his own way, not staying on the sidelines. And Flash couldn't stand to be cooped up for too long..."

"Nightwing is down here."

"Well, I'd  _expect_  Nightwing to be 'down here' - he and Batman never really saw eye-to-eye after Nightwing 'graduated'. How do we get into contact with the Watchtower?"

Captain America motioned for the World Jumper to follow him, then turned and started walking off. "Myra, you're coming, too."

Myra jumped in surprise at the Avenger's sudden statement. " _M-me?_  Are you sure I'm needed for this?"

"Positive." Captain America looked back as the World Jumper started after him. "Come on."

Myra hesitated for a moment, then nodded and followed after Captain America and the World Jumper, jogging a little in order to catch up with them. "Why do you need me? I was there when you told Batman that we'd found the World Jumper and rescued you from the MindTech. Does he really need to see me again?"

The World Jumper shot Myra a harsh look as Captain America responded, "Yes."

Myra shuddered a bit, remembering the dark scowl that the man on the screen had.

"I think that Luthor will be able to get a handle on their signal this time, so we shouldn't be standing around for too long."

The World Jumper stiffened, causing her pace to change to something a little more aggressive. "You're talking about Lex Luthor."

Myra couldn't help but stare when she heard the World Jumper's tone. It almost sounded like...she  _hated_  the man.

"Unfortunately," Captain America confirmed. "We have a collection of criminals and vigilantes around here, and it makes for an uneasy alliance."

"Well, I certainly hope Luthor hasn't made it uneasy on anybody. Because if he has..." the World Jumper's voice trailed off, leaving Myra's imagination to bring up all sorts of nasty pictures in her mind.

Myra shuddered. She hadn't thought that the World Jumper to act like  _this._

**Time Break**

When they arrived at the communications area again, the World Jumper was quick to turn her attention to Brainiac and Luthor. Brainiac had an expression on his face that almost seemed to say that he had been expecting her, while Luthor looked more shocked and fearful than anything else.

"Luthor! Brainiac! You haven't been giving anyone any trouble, have you?" the World Jumper demanded harshly.

Luthor jumped back a bit. "I-I haven't done anything! I swear!"

"Your technological advances surpassed my own enough that I was not allowed to continue assimilating knowledge," Brainiac said. Somehow, the blue-green-skinned man was able to look disapproving.

"All the better for the universe," the World Jumper responded, giving a determined nod. "I hope you've put your abilities to a better use than killing every single being that exists."

Myra stared at the World Jumper in shock, then turned her attention to Brainiac with a wide-eyed expression.

Luthor quickly recovered his composure. "All we've been allowed to do is keep in touch with that stupid Justice League! Do you really think that I'd have enough free time on my hands to cause trouble when we've already got it in the form of those aliens?!"

The World Jumper stared him down for a moment longer; then she sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I wanted to make sure that you weren't." She fixed the two with a glare again.

Myra blinked a couple times out of confusion at the exchange. She was able to keep up to a point, but there were just some things that didn't quite match up with what she knew.

Luthor held up his hands defensively, a nervous smile on his face. "Relax, okay? I'm just an engineer now, remember?"

The World Jumper didn't look happy at that, but she gave a nod in response and stepped back. "We need to get into contact with the Watchtower. Now."

Luthor stumbled with his words for a moment before he nodded. "G-got it." He turned and ran towards the communications area and started working at the controls.

Captain America looked over at the World Jumper with a strange expression on his face. After eyeing Myra for a moment, he looked back at the World Jumper and said, "You're changed."

The World Jumper looked over at Captain America. She closed her eyes for a moment before she said, "When you're put through what I am, you change."

Captain America paused at that, then decided to say nothing.

Myra, on the other hand, frowned at them in confusion. "I understand that Luthor isn't someone you like, but what exactly is the story behind that?"

The World Jumper gave Myra a sour, serious look. "When I visited his world, he and Brainiac nearly killed me and the world of the Justice League. Lex Luthor has been consistently shown to be the kind of person who only does something if it benefits him in the long run. I wouldn't trust him were it not for..." Her voice trailed off as she gained an extremely sour and grim expression.

_::Unfortunately, we have been forced into an alliance where we have to work with each other::_

Myra looked up when she heard the familiar voice, a slightly nervous expression crossing her face when she saw Batman's cowl-covered face on the screen above them.

The World Jumper looked up at the screen and inclined her head. "Batman."

Batman nodded in greeting.  _::Flare-Up::_

"My internal clock has gone out of whack; it claims that I was forced into stasis for over 75 years." The World Jumper's eyes narrowed as Myra stared at her sharply. "And I was told that you could explain the situation far better than others could."

Batman remained silent for a moment.  _::Time has different paces in different places. I have found proof that different worlds have been forcefully merged together by unknown means, creating Time Barriers that separate different World Zones. And these Time Barriers can age or de-age a person who passed through if they don't have the proper protection. Essentially, time means nothing here::_

The World Jumper frowned at that. "I see...that would explain why you still live, despite the fact that you should be dead by my count. Have you found a way to reverse the damage?"

Flash suddenly blurred into view.  _::We haven't completely narrowed it down yet, but we think the guy who jump-started it is on top of a tower in that city Cap and Myra found you in. It's kinda a mix of Metropolis and Gotham, and it's also where the Trials were set up::_

"Trials?" The World Jumper's eyes narrowed again. "Explain."

:: _The Trials seem to be a gladiatorial combat tournament::_ Batman explained. The interior of the Watchtower disappeared, replaced with a photo of a tall tower that looked like it had had an arena dropped on top of it. :: _They've been playing "survival of the fittest" with people across World Zones. No one has come out of it alive yet::_ The interior of the Watchtower reappeared.

"Yet?" The World Jumper raised an eyebrow at this. "Are you saying that there's a chance someone could survive one of these?"

"If there is a chance, it hasn't happened yet," Captain America spoke up. He paused, absently rubbing the back of his neck. "And there is proof that the people who enter the arena come back under the control of MindTech."

The World Jumper stiffened, and her jaw clenched. It was…almost like she didn't like that idea.

Was it possible that the World Jumper was afraid of something?

"How many?"

Myra looked over at the World Jumper when she heard the statement, blinking in confusion.

"How many have fallen?" The World Jumper was gritting her teeth as she spoke.

:: _You really want to go through that list?::_ Flash looked surprised. When the World Jumper nodded, the determined look not leaving, he sighed. :: _Well, the main JLA members managed to escape unscathed - Nightwing and his team prefer to work down there, but everyone else is up here - and Hawkeye and Black Widow disappeared from that Avengers group. Cap disappeared, too, but you guys got him back, so we'll have to update that later-::_

"Cap was under their control?" The World Jumper turned and looked at the red, white, and blue Avenger in surprise.

Captain America looked down at the World Jumper and nodded. "I guess you don't remember that. When Myra and the others found you, you must have reacted to the danger they had gotten themselves into." He motioned to the back of his neck. "I think you melted the device so that it was completely unusable."

The World Jumper blinked a couple times at that, looking somehow amazed for a moment before the more serious expression returned, only this time it was accompanied by a small smirk. "Well then. This is unexpected and welcome news."

_::While it is helpful, I doubt that you will be able to rescue every single one of the affected::_  Batman responded shortly.  _::Considering that it is more than likely that they will still be able to locate your weaknesses, upgrades or no::_

The World Jumper's smirk disappeared, and she shot Batman a glare. "I am not about to stand by. I have been repaired and given a second chance to instill the fear of World Jumpers in them; I am not about to simply stand down when I am capable of fighting back."

_::Bot Girl, you can't just charge out there and start taking them out!::_ Flash argued.

"Don't call me that."

_::Well, what do you want me to call you, then?::_  Flash scowled.  _::We can't exactly say your name without risking getting blasted out of the sky!::_

"Flare-Up." The World Jumper shifted her stance slightly - she didn't look like she was going to attack, but she didn't entirely look like she was completely relaxed, either. Myra wasn't exactly sure what to make of what the World Jumper was trying to convey. "I've taken up the name as a code name on my home world, and Batman was the one who gave it to me. I don't see a reason to stop using it."

Flash and Batman exchanged looks while Myra stared at the World Jumper - Flare-Up. She wondered if she should ask where the World Jumper  _got_  a code name like that, but then remembered the flames she had seen before Captain America had come to his senses. Maybe that was what got her the name in the first place?

_::Considering that you are reckless by nature, I doubt I'll be able to do anything to stop you::_ Batman finally said in an irritated tone.  _::Nightwing or Captain Rogers will give you missions out to the various World Zones. I expect you to work with the teams you will be assigned to, and that you will_ not _go out by yourself. We cannot afford reckless behavior::_

"I agree," Flare-Up responded. "But, I am going to ask that I be given some room to maneuver." She looked over at Myra. "And that Myra join me on the missions I take."

The second part of Flare-Up's statement threw Myra for a loop; she looked at Flare-Up in surprise. "Me? W-work with you?" She blinked for a moment before shaking her head. "There's no way - I'd only end up slowing down someone like you! I can't  _do_  stuff like what everyone else can!"

Flare-Up blinked blankly. "Slow me down?" She frowned. "You won't slow me down, that I'm sure of."

Myra felt unusually flustered. She hadn't been expecting to suddenly get this request from the famous World Jumper. And why had Flare-Up even decided that she  _wanted_  to work with her in the first place? It didn't make any sense!

_::Very well::_

Myra turned out of surprise when she heard Batman's response, too surprised to look the least bit nervous. A moment later, though, she attempted to reel in her surprise as she shook her head. "I-it's just...I didn't think that I would ever get a chance like this."

"Well, now you have it." Flare-Up gave Myra a nod, her serious blue eyes locking with Myra's amazed and somewhat confused purple ones. "We're going to be working together from now on."

_::Is that all?::_ Batman spoke dryly.

"For now," Captain America responded. "You haven't found out anything yet, have you?"

_::No::_

And with that abrupt statement, the connection was suddenly severed, causing Myra to stiffen out of surprise.

Flare-Up blinked for a moment before sighing and shaking her head at Batman's sudden disappearance. "As blunt and enigmatic as always."

Captain America shook his head as well. "Tony hates him for it."

Flare-Up gained a knowing expression in response before looking at Captain America with a raised eyebrow. "Do you know what our first mission is, Captain?"

Captain America shook his head. "Not yet." He paused. "Maybe you should go and do some sparring for a while in order to get used to your upgrades. It might give the both of you an idea about your abilities."

Myra blinked. "You mean...spar against each other?"

"If you want to, I'd be fine with it," Flare-Up responded.

There came a dark chuckle from Luthor, who had turned to look away from his computer dashboard and was grinning like a maniac. "You're gonna need a medic if you do that!"

Flare-Up ignored him and kept her eyes on Myra, who was feeling a little uneasy.

"I don't think I'm ready to spar with a World Jumper yet," Myra said, shaking her head.

"I think you're overestimating my abilities," Flare-Up responded. "If you saw me fight, would that make you feel any better about sparring against me?"

"I think that would help."

Flare-Up looked at Captain America with a raised eyebrow. "Where do you people spar around here?"

Captain America appeared thoughtful for a moment. "There are a few places, but I think there is one in particular that you should go to first. Nightwing might want someone familiar to spar with."

Flare-Up blinked for a moment, then grinned. "I haven't been able to spar against him in years. This might be a good workout."

Myra stared at Flare-Up. "Might?" She frowned. "Nightwing is said to be really strong, according to the rumors I've heard. I don't think you'd be able to defeat him easily…."

"Well then, I think it's high time someone brings him down a peg." Flare-Up spun her staff in both hands for a moment before slamming the butt of the staff into the ground. "Lead the way, Cap."

Captain America gave a nod in response, then started moving away from Luthor and Brainiac. Flare-Up fell into step beside him instantly, while Myra moved behind them.

"Which World Zone is this one?" Flare-Up asked, giving Captain America a curious expression.

"The locals call it the Precursor Zone," Captain America replied. "This used to be an arena in one of their cities."

"An arena?" Flare-Up looked up, and Myra followed her gaze as they looked up at the stone, arched roof that was high above their heads. "This feels to large to be a simple arena, Cap." She looked back at the Avenger with a curious frown.

"I'm not sure what exactly happened," Captain America responded. "All I know for certain is that a number of worlds were merged together by some hidden force, and they did something to space and time as a result. Tony would know more about what's going on than I would."

Flare-Up considered that for a moment before nodding. "Considering that this place doesn't  _feel_  like an arena, I suppose I shouldn't be all that surprised. I'm guessing that the sparring area is  _supposed_  to be the arena's proper size?"

"That's right. They call it Nightwing's Gauntlet."

Flare-Up raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? I didn't think Nightwing would be willing to run a gauntlet."

"They call it that because he was the first one to beat it as far as I'm aware." Captain America shrugged. "James and his team apparently beat it recently themselves."

"James?" Flare-Up frowned.

"You'll meet him soon." Captain America looked over at Flare-Up. "Nightwing's overseeing a spar now."

Flare-Up hummed in response. She looked over at Myra. "Have you attempted the gauntlet?"

Myra shook her head. "I-I just got here. I lived on the streets before."

A strange expression came across Flare-Up's face as Myra spoke - a mix between a frown and the look of someone trying to figure something out.

Captain America frowned as well. "Consider yourself lucky that you did not end up in the situation that I did. We were careless, I'll admit that, but even the most careful can end up with MindTech strapped to their necks. Like Jak Mar."

Myra flinched while Flare-Up's frown deepened.

"Jak Mar..." Flare-Up looked over at Captain America. "Tall young man? Extremely pointed ears? Has yellow and green hair and a rather nasty temper most of the time?"

"You met him?"

"No. I only knew about him because of video games that we kept in the house. My siblings liked playing them."

Captain America and Myra both blinked in surprise when they heard that.

"Video games?" Captain America repeated in surprise.

"Siblings?" Myra frowned. "I thought you grew up alone in a wild jungle or something..."

"I never thought to bring up all of my family members in any of the conversations we had," Flare-Up responded. She raised an eyebrow at Myra. "If I had grown up in a jungle, I probably wouldn't be wearing these clothes." She paused and looked up at Captain America for a moment longer before looking back at Myra and asking, "What exactly is it that you know about me?"

Myra blinked at the question, a little surprised that the World Jumper had asked such a thing. "Well, a lot of people agree that you were a hero of some kind for a number of the World Zones, and that you are extremely powerful and not someone that should be crossed. Your origins are a complete mystery though."

Flare-Up looked back at Captain America at Myra's statement.

"It was Bruce's decision, not mine. He thought that keeping knowledge of you out of as many people's minds as possible would prevent people from slipping up and accidentally saying something that the enemy might not know about yet." The Avenger paused. "Considering where you were found, he might decide to let people know the truth for once, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon."

Flare-Up sighed and shook her head. "You may as well let the rumors persist. They only know about my physical workings - not my memories and experiences."

Myra stiffened at that particular statement. Captain America looked a little uneasy.

"That would explain why you were in the shape you were," the Avenger said carefully.

Flare-Up closed her eyes in response, her mouth pressing into a straight line. "They didn't understand what they had. And I thank God for that."


	6. Warm-up

It didn't take them too long to find Nightwing's Gauntlet, but when the trio arrived, the arena was just a circular platform surrounded by what looked like a moat of some kind. And in the center of that platform, Torunn was going after James with her sword, while he was defending with a hard light construct-replica of Captain America's shield.

Flare-Up paused at the start of the bridge that went over the moat, blinking for a moment before frowning. "Those two look familiar, but I can't place where I've seen them..." She closed one eye, the open one following the fight as James threw his shield before materializing a second one, blocking Torunn's sword again as she dodged his attack.

Myra wasn't really paying all that much attention to Flare-Up at this point - she was watching James and Torunn move around the arena, trying to find each others' weak points in order to win the match. Captain America, who had his arms folded across his chest, was watching them too, occasionally nodding in approval whenever James would block a strike or get one of his kicks, punches, or sword throws close enough to almost hit Torrun out of her semi-flying jumps.

"Ah. So  _that's_  where they're from."

Myra blinked, then looked over at Flare-Up, who had both eyes open again.

"What do you mean?" Myra blinked.

"I knew that those two looked familiar." Flare-Up nodded to the two in the arena. "They were featured in comics and a cartoon movie on my home world." She paused, then looked over at Captain America, her tone taking on something of a more suspicious nature. "But the reality where they lived had a good number of the Avengers killed by Ultron, leaving only the Hulk, Hawkeye, Thor, and Iron Man alive."

"Their reality collapsed some time ago," Captain America responded without missing a beat. "They came over into ours and caused a little trouble before Fury reigned them in and figured out what was going on. That was a month before all this."

Flare-Up hummed at that, and said nothing else.

James pushed Torrun back after a moment, shield and sword grinding against each other and sending sparks flying. The two slid back from one another, panting heavily as they turned their heads to look at their audience.

"I'd heard that you'd been found, but I didn't think you'd be here so soon."

Myra turned her head sharply in surprise upon hearing the voice, and blinked in confusion when she saw a young man wearing a blue and black costume approach them. For a moment, she thought it was Seeker, but then she saw the hawk-like shape on his chest rather than the dog head-like shape and realized they were different people.

"I'm told that time has warped, making 'soon' more of a variable than it usually is." Flare-Up stepped towards the teenage boy. "Which explains why I was trapped for 75 years, but you live still."

Nightwing nodded. "What name are you using?"

"Flare-Up. World Jumper is my title, remember?"

"World Jumper?" James crossed the bridge over the moat, Torunn right at his heels. "That can't be right. The World Jumper was wearing armor when we found her..."

"You didn't think I was going to get physical upgrades?" Flare-Up raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you've upgraded your shield at least a little, James Rogers."

James stared at Flare-Up with wide eyes, but then they narrowed as he demanded, "How do you know who I am?"

Flare-Up's eyebrow raised even further. "I have heard about you and your world. Is that really something that you should be surprised about?"

James blinked for a moment, then shook his head in order to clear the frown and surprise from his face. "I didn't think you knew, since you didn't show up when our world collapsed."

"I only show up where I know that I'm needed. Something else probably caught my attention at the time." Flare-Up paused. "I  _had_  been going to Captain America's world, but something forced me off course. By the time I had gotten off the world I had found myself on, something else caught my attention."

Myra blinked at that. "Then...where did you end up?"

Flare-Up considered the question, then shook her head. "It's not important now."

Something in the look on her face made Myra wonder what exactly it was Flare-Up had done. She decided against asking when Nightwing spoke up again.

"You mentioned you had an upgrade." Nightwing looked Flare-Up over. "Do you have that Light Refractor active?"

Flare-Up shook her head. "I haven't attempted to access it yet. My systems have been...changed."

Nightwing didn't even need to consider what that meant. "You're looking for a spar to get back on your feet."

"Exactly."

Nightwing nodded. "Got a line-up?"

"Most of the people in my 'line-up' are either up in the Watchtower or taken out by the MindTech." Flare-Up's voice came out in a slight snarl. "I do have some, but I need to understand the 'levels' that have been installed in my system first."

Nightwing inclined his head. "And the level you're at now?"

"One." Flare-Up hefted her staff. "Most likely, it represents my state before I was transferred into my Reploid form."

"Really?" Myra jumped a bit when she realized she had asked the question.

Flare-Up looked over at Myra and nodded.

"I think that fighting you as you are now would be pretty interesting." Nightwing's thoughtful expression gained a knowing smirk. "Especially considering our last fight had me at a disadvantage."

Myra stared at Nightwing as Flare-Up blinked for a moment. After a while, the World Jumper snorted and rolled her eyes.

"I think we were pretty evenly matched, even with my armor," Flare-Up said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Besides, that tournament had hazards that were there to affect both sides. I saw Thor and Loki coming. You didn't. It's that simple."

Myra blinked in confusion while Torrun frowned.

"How do you know about my father and his half-brother?" Torrun asked cautiously.

"I met them." Flare-Up shrugged. "Is that such an impossible idea?"

Torrun frowned, then looked over at Captain America. "I suppose not..."

"We can discuss this later," Nightwing said. He gave Flare-Up an interested look. "We've got someone to break in." He started across the bridge to the arena. Flare-Up followed after him a moment later, her staff clacking against the wooden slats of the bridge.

Myra bit her lower lip worriedly as the two of them got into position.

"Don't worry."

Myra looked up when she heard Captain America's comment.

"Those two will be able to handle each other," the Avenger continued. "Just watch."

Flare-Up and Nightwing moved to either sides of the arena, shifting into crouching positions. Flare-Up held her staff in front of her at an angle, both of her hands gripping the wood tightly, while Nightwing kept his hands free of anything from his utility belt.

There was a crunch of sand under their feet, and Flare-Up and Nightwing charged at each other, the World Jumper bringing her staff back for a swing.

Nightwing ducked under the staff and brought a fist into Flare-Up's gut, causing her to grunt and stumble back. "You're too used to having your armor."

"I've had it for three years at least; I don't expect it to be easy to adjust back," Flare-Up snapped in reply. She spun her staff in front of herself quickly, whacking Nightwing once as he moved back. "Why do you think I asked for a spar?"

Nightwing simply smirked, and he went in again in order to kick Flare-Up in the side, but she caught his leg on her staff and pushed him back, sending him into a backflip. When Flare-Up came at him and brought her staff forward, Nightwing dodged it again, only for the staff to suddenly be swung under his feet and caused him to leap up before a fist collided with his face.

Myra flinched back as Nightwing fell back, only to stare as he tripped Flare-Up and pushed himself back up again.

"You never picked up anything from the time we were on the same world, did you?" Nightwing asked dryly.

Flare-Up's eyes narrowed wordlessly, and she leapt up to her feet and lunged for Nightwing again.

Orange sparks followed Flare-Up's staff, and a moment later Nightwing was ducking a fire-covered staff.

Myra gasped, her eyes widening in shock at the sight of the flames.

"Whoa!" Torunn's jaw dropped. "How didst she set her weapon ablaze? I see no technology with which to cause it."

"There's no friction in air." Pym frowned, tapping his chin.

"Is she a mutant?" Azari asked.

"She's a Reploid," Captain America corrected.

"I was wondering when you were going to start tapping into that," Nightwing commented. He ducked under Flare-Up's lunging staff and tried to come in again for another punch, but Flare-Up's clenched fists came slamming down on his back, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Level Two." Flare-Up looked her hands over with slightly raised eyebrows as flames sparked across her fingers. "Hm." She jumped back as Nightwing rose to his feet again, staff no longer in her hands as she clenched her fists. "Now this is more like it."

"You've got your power split up." Nightwing started circling around the sparring field, Flare-Up mimicking him a moment later.

"Indeed." Flare-Up held out one hand, a blast of flames formed the staff again, and she raised it high before slamming it into the ground. "Icy Terrain!"

A wave of ice suddenly blasted out from where the staff hit the ground, covering the platform in a slick surface.

"Whoa!" Pym's jaw dropped. "She can take heat  _out_  of things, too?"

"I didn't see her use this technique." Captain America frowned. "Unless…."

"Unless?" Myra looked up at the Avenger in confusion.

Captain America shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

Nightwing hit the ground and his legs slipped out from under him. "Where did this come from?!"

"An old trick of mine I haven't done in years," Flare-Up replied, twirling her staff in one hand. "And there's more where that came from." She lunged forward, swinging her staff back before swinging it forward, causing a blast of cold wind to fly across the battlefield. Nightwing was caught in the blast and blocked it from hitting his face, but that didn't stop what looked like snow forming on his arm.

"Looks like she's giving him a thorough beating."

Myra jumped at the voice that came from behind her, and she turned quickly. "Seeker!"

Captain America glanced back as Seeker stepped forward to join him, Myra, and the others in watching the spar. "Didn't you say that you had some things that you needed to take care of?"

"I've taken care of them; we're still off the radar." Seeker shrugged. "Besides, there was someone here who wanted to know where the World Jumper was."

"Flare-Up," Myra corrected. "She said we should call her that."

Seeker's eyebrows rose at that. "Flare-Up? It's been a long time since I've heard that name." He smirked and chuckled. "I should have thought that she would want to go by that."

"Is that her, then?" A short, green man walking on log-like stilts waddled over to the group, leaning on a staff as he looked through a pair of glasses perched on his nose at Flare-Up and Nightwing as Nightwing managed to find his footing on the ice and lunged for Flare-Up, intending to trip her up. "I was under the impression that she was a mechanical being of some kind."

"She is, Samos," Seeker replied. "She appears to have gotten some upgrades recently."

The staff disappeared from Flare-Up's hand right as her right hand clenched into a fist, and suddenly she was back in the armor she had been wearing when Myra had first seen her.

Only this time, her right hand had been replaced by the barrel of a cannon.

"I think that's enough," Nightwing said.

Myra blinked. Was he speaking a little more quickly than normal?

Flare-Up paused at that, then her right arm glowed for a moment as her right hand came out of the cannon and returned her arm to normal. "Very well then."

"How do you know she isn't rusty with her Reploid form, Nightwing?" Seeker asked, raising his voice.

Flare-Up whirled sharply at Seeker's voice as he stepped onto the bridge and started coming over towards them. Her eyes widened slightly when they locked with Seeker's.

"She spent most of her time in it; I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't," Nightwing replied.

"She's been in cryosleep for a long time; I would expect her to be a bit sluggish at first. You could still have the advantage." Seeker smirked at Flare-Up, who had schooled her expression into something more serious. "But if you don't want to take her on, then I'll spar with her myself."

"I had to train  _you_  when we first met," Nightwing replied. "What makes you think that you would be able to handle whatever she throws at you?"

"Because I know what she can do – probably better than the rest of the people here, in fact." Seeker nodded to Flare-Up. "Are you up to the challenge?"

Flare-Up inclined her head slightly at the question, then gave a slight nod.

"All right." Seeker slammed a fist into an open palm as Nightwing slipped across the iced-over platform and over to the bridge, getting out of their way. "I should have you know that I've picked up a few things since we last saw each other. You probably won't be able to read me very well."

"I don't mind." Flare-Up shifted into a ready position, bringing her fists up in front of her. "Seeing how you've improved will be interesting, to say the least."

Myra looked between the two of them as Nightwing came over. "They know each other? The World Jumper has a lot more connections than I thought…."

"Flare-Up has been to multiple dimensions and has managed to meet more people than any one of us ever could in a single lifetime." Nightwing raised an eyebrow. "Almost everyone here knows who she is and what she is capable of."

Samos snorted. "We could have used her assistance in the resistance here against the MetalHeads. I don't understand why she would have not come here in order to assist us in keeping balance when we needed it most!"

"You had Jak to handle it!" Flare-Up called back.

"Concentrate on me!" Seeker held up his hands as blue fire erupted from them, and he threw a fiery sphere at Flare-Up, who ducked and let the ball go flying harmlessly over her head.

"Jak?" Myra repeated, confused. "Who's that?"

Samos sighed irritably. "Our missing king."

"Who  _you_  haven't let me get back!" barked another voice.

Myra looked down and jolted in surprise when she caught sight of a orange weasel-like creature wearing pants on its hind legs and goggles perched on top of its head.

" _You_  would only end up in the same place that  _he_  has, Daxter!" Samos snapped in reply. "I would rather keep you here so that you can maintain this gauntlet rather than let you run rampant and get caught by the very monsters that caught us all off guard and took off with Jak Mar!"

The weasel creature – Daxter, apparently – ducked his head at Samos' scolding and muttered something under his breath, only to get whacked over the head by Samos' staff. He scrambled off and disappeared from sight.

Flare-Up and Seeker slammed into each other right at that moment, arms covered in red and blue flames. The clash and fireworks show that resulted caused Myra to look up sharply in surprise.

Flare-Up and Seeker slid back from each other, both smirking, which caused James to do a double-take.

"Is it me, or does Seeker look like he's  _enjoying_  himself?" James asked.

"He looks like it," Torrun replied, frowning.

"You've picked up a few tricks," Flare-Up noted as she and Seeker started to circle each other.

"You really think that I'm not going to pick things up when I saw  _you_  throwing fire around, little sister," Seeker replied.

Myra stiffened in surprise at that as the others did a double-take.

_"Sister?"_  Torrun repeated. "Seeker, thou art the World Jumper's sister?"

Seeker and Flare-Up paused in their movements, then looked over at their audience.

"Is that really such a crazy idea?" Seeker asked, raising an eyebrow. Flare-Up mimicked his expression a moment later, but her smirk dropped while his stayed.

"W-well, I was not aware that World Jumpers could have…." Torrun's voice faded, and she ducked her head under the stares she was getting from them both. "Could have families."

"I did not simply come into existence," Flare-Up said. "Someone did not simply say a command word and summon me from nothing, or create this shell and give me life. I…" She paused, then looked away and shook her head. "I am not like X and Zero."

Seeker put a hand on Flare-Up's shoulder. "No; you're not." He looked over at Nightwing. "Now that we've got my sister back, we can start making more moves against the Dark Arms and take people back."

"Myra and I will be working together," Flare-Up said seriously. Myra swallowed nervously in response and shifted from one foot to the other; the movement caught the World Jumper's attention. "Don't underestimate yourself. You know the lay of the land more than I do."

Myra blinked a couple times. "U-uh—" She shook her head rapidly. "I don't have any sort of power like you do, though! I wouldn't be able to keep up as well as—"

"Look at your hands."

Myra looked at Flare-Up sharply, wide-eyed.

"Myra," Flare-Up's tone was strangely, slightly softer than it normally sounded like. "Look at your hands."

Myra blinked in confusion, then looked down at her hands. Her eyes widened, and she scrambled back with a squeak, shaking her hands as purple fire danced on her fingers. "Wh-what is this?!"

"You're manifesting!" Azari exclaimed.

"I'm  _what?"_  The purple flames started to pick up even more so, causing Myra to squeak again as she tried to shake her hands out.

A pair of gloved hands grabbed her wrists.

Myra looked up and locked gazes with Flare-Up, who was glaring at her with a determined expression that made her flinch back.

"Calm down. Breathe; take it slow." Flare-Up's grip on Myra's wrists tightened slightly, then released them when the purple flames tried to jump from Myra's hands to the World Jumper's. "This power is a part of you; it's not going to hurt you."

Myra stared at Flare-Up with wide eyes, then looked down at her hands and stared at the purple flames. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply in and out, forcing her heart to slow its panicked pacing.

When she opened her eyes again, the purple flames had gone down to embers, then disappeared entirely.

"Looks like we've got another reason for you to be working with my sister," Seeker remarked. "You have the same power she does."

"Not entirely the same." Flare-Up shook her head. "Those fires are Psychic attacks made physical – a Mental Flare."

"Mental Flare…" Myra tried the word out, hesitant.

"I'll teach you what I can, but it will have to be quick lessons while we're winning the multiverse back," Flare-Up said. "Nightwing; keep me posted. The first sign of a MindTech in the area, send me out."

"You're sure about that." Nightwing folded his arms across his chest. "What if this is a Brainiac event?"

"It won't be." Flare-Up's eyes narrowed as Myra looked between them in confusion. "They can't use me."

Nightwing and Seeker exchanged looks at that as the others stared at Flare-Up with wide eyes at the implication of her statement.

"Y-you mean….." Myra swallowed. "You're  _immune_ to the MindTech?"

Flare-Up nodded. "I am."


	7. Rescue Mission: Spargus Haven

After the revelation that Flare-Up was  _immune_  to MindTech – somehow – Myra went straight back to the shack she and Crystal shared and paced the floor of the room for well over what felt like an hour, staring at her hands as purple sparks of fire flickered and jumped off the tips of her fingers, then dissipated before they hit the ground.

**_"Well, isn't that interesting?"_ **

Myra jumped a good foot.

 ** _"I didn't think that you'd have something like that hidden away. You're a little enigma, Myra Arym. I look forward to seeing what other sorts of strange things you can do."_**  The Nightmare King chuckled darkly, then pulled his presence back under the bed again and disappeared.

Myra shuddered. She was  _never_  going to get used to that.

The door to the shack opened, causing Myra to jump again when she saw Flare-Up's seemingly ever-present scowl fixed on her.

Myra wasn't going to get used to  _that,_  either.

"We've got a mission." Flare-Up, in her armor, motioned with her head for Myra to follow her. "Come on. We don't have much time."

Myra blinked a couple times, then yelped when Flare-Up grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the shack and towards another area of Mar's Haven.

"Wh-where are we going?" Myra yelped.

Flare-Up didn't answer, instead making her way out of the lines of a shack and towards what looked like a slightly-raised platform with a large stone throne sitting in the center of it.

Nightwing was standing in front of it, hands on his hips and a grim expression on his face. Seeker was next to him, arms folded across his chest.

With the two of them standing next to each other, Myra almost thought that the two of them were brothers.

Which could have meant that Flare-Up and Nightwing were siblings. Myra wasn't sure what she felt about that.

"There you two are." Nightwing nodded at the two of them. "We're starting you off small – more for Myra's sake than for yours, Flare-Up; consider this one a warm-up."

Flare-Up nodded; Myra shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"It's a few locals, no doubt trying to sniff us out. There's a chance that the local hero might be mixed in there; Flare-Up, you know about Jak Mar and his abilities?"

"I am aware of his Eco-channeling abilities, yes," Flare-Up confirmed.

"Eco?" Myra blinked in confusion.

"Energy," Seeker replied. "Green for healing, blue for speed, yellow for projectiles, red for strength. And then there's dark and light, but those are pretty obvious on their own."

Flare-Up nodded. "There is a chance for him, then; if we see him, I'm taking him on alone."

"Considering Myra's inexperience, that might be for the best," Nightwing agreed. "Most of those taken are civilians, palace guards, and gladiators of various strengths. Keep an eye out for them."

"They're out wandering the city streets now," Seeker added. "I'll take you to the exit closest to where most of them are; you'll have to take them out from there."

Flare-Up nodded again. "Understood. Lead the way."

Seeker inclined his head, then nodded and started walking away from the throne – which Myra now realized was in the  _middle_  of the arena – and led them back through the shacks towards the outer wall of the arena and a small passage.

"There's a trap door at the end you'll have to lift up," Seeker explained. "You're going to be right in the middle of the Spargus and Haven City mergepoint, so watch out for the mix between stone, sand, and metal you're going to be running into."

Flare-Up nodded. She started into the passageway, then paused and looked at Seeker. "You've done a good job, keeping people together."

Seeker blinked in surprise at that, but Flare-Up was already moving through the passageway before he could respond, pulling Myra behind her.

"Do you know how to bring up your fire?" Flare-Up asked as they moved into a dimly lit tunnel.

"U-um—" Myra held up a hand; purple sparks flew from her fingers as Flare-Up back, illuminating the tunnel more than the dying torches.

Flare-Up nodded. "Good. Your first lesson is learning how to use it as projectiles and throw it at opponents from a distance. I'll be right in the thick of things, but I want you to find a vantage point in the city and start throwing fireballs at anything that moves that could be hostile to either one of us, understand?"

"What makes you think that I'm not going to just run and find a hiding place?" Myra responded. "Th-that's all I know!"

"You're better than that."

Myra stopped short at Flare-Up's response, blinking in confusion. Flare-Up stopped as well, and looked back.

"I chose you to be my partner for a reason." Flare-Up clapped a hand on Myra's shoulder, her blue eyes glowing in the dim tunnel light in a way that made her seem more inhuman than she already was. "I can see potential in you, Myra. You just need a little training. I know this place isn't the best, but it is what we have, and we are going to make use of it. If you are going to survive, you are going to need to be stronger – not just in body, but in mind as well."

Flare-Up's hand slid off Myra's shoulder, and the World Jumper motioned for Myra to follow her. Then she walked to the end of the tunnel and reached the ladder carved into it, leading up to a wooden door at the roof of the tunnel.

Myra hesitated, then followed after her.

Flare-Up climbed up the ladder first, pushing the trap door open a crack. She looked around for a moment, nodded, then pushed the door open and pulled herself up the rest of the way before turning around and motioning for Myra to come up after her.

Myra did so – slowly, definitely not with the confidence Flare-Up carried in herself. She took Flare-Up's hand when she got to the top of the tunnel, and Flare-Up pulled Myra up into what looked like a storage room with little effort.

"Get on the roof," Flare-Up said. "When you summon your fire again, focus on throwing it at any opponents I run into. Desperation and fear can help you, but they can also hinder you. Find something to focus on  _feeling_."

"What are you—"

Flare-Up was already out of the room, leaving Myra alone among abandoned, turned-over crates.

Myra looked around quickly. "Get on the roof, get on the –" She spotted a pile of crates in the corner of the room, leading up to a hole in the ceiling that was letting gray light stream through. She quickly scrambled up and found herself standing on top of a squat, square building that was made of packed clay. On either side of her were more buildings in the same style, as with across the street.

Looming over everything was a giant metal structure that looked more than a little top-heavy, like it was going to fall over at any moment.

Myra moved to the edge of the roof carefully, and caught sight of Flare-Up standing in the middle of the street, looking around as she walked in a wide, slow circle.

Then she stopped in the middle of the street and threw back her head. "HEY!"

Myra flinched back in alarm. Yelling like that was going to get her attention from who  _knew_  what! Had Flare-Up gone insane?!

Or was that what she was hoping for?

Flare-Up turned sharply to look at something that was coming up behind her, and her stance shifted from relaxed to alert in an instant. Myra followed her gaze and stiffened.

A group of five figures was approaching them, in step. They almost looked human, except their hair was spikier and their ears were long and pointed, like someone had been pulling on them for a long time.

"Ready?!"

Myra turned her head sharply at Flare-Up's questioning yell, and locked eyes with her before Flare-Up returned her attention to the five approaching figures.

Flare-Up pulled her hands behind her, and they became covered in bright red-orange flames. She threw them forward, and twin fireballs were instantly sent flying at the five figures, hitting the two at the opposite ends of the line. The remaining three kept coming forward.

Myra's eyes widened. Was  _that_  what Flare-Up was expecting her to do? It looked so easy when  _she_  did it, but….

Myra looked down at her own hands and pulled in a breath as Flare-Up fired another twin fireball shot. The purple fire sparked at her fingertips, reluctant to fully fire, then finally came to life and covered her palms.

"U-um…" Myra looked between her hands and Flare-Up, who took down the fifth in that initial line and turned as another group of five started coming up from the other end of the street. Instead of wearing civilian clothes, however, they were wearing bright red armor.

And were carrying weapons.

"Hmph." Myra could hear Flare-Up's derisive snort from her perch. "I was wondering when they were going to do this." She clenched her right fist, summoning that cannon Myra had seen her point at Nightwing before.

A moment later, five yellow energy blasts were shot out of her cannon in quick succession, knocking the armored figures back and causing them to collapse to the ground, sparks flying from their armor.

"Whoa…"

"Don't slack off!"

Myra shook her head at Flare-Up's yell and found she was glaring at her in disapproval.

"I need you to be watching my six, not gawking at where I'm aiming," Flare-Up added. She looked up and down the street for a moment. "More incoming from both sides! Hit the ones I can't get with fireballs of your own!"

"H-how?!" Myra yelped. The purple flames on her hands sparked, growing a little higher. "I only know how to get it  _on_  me! How do I  _throw_  it!"

Flare-Up looked at her sharply, then quickly returned her attention to the on-coming civilians and guards. "Gather it up and throw it!"

"Gather it up…?" Myra looked down at her hands in wide-eyed confusion.

Flare-Up started firing again, spinning on one foot and shooting yellow bursts of energy with her cannon in order to keep up with the slowly-growing crowd of figures who were coming at her. Meanwhile, Myra tried to push the fire from one hand to another, as though she could roll it into a ball of some kind.

The fire refused, resolutely staying stuck to her hands and not moving from one to the other, although there did seem to be more of it now.

Myra looked between her hands and Flare-Up in a panic, seeing that there were more figures starting to gather around her now. Screwing her eyes shut, she brought her arms back, then threw them forward as hard as she could.

_Fwoom!_

Myra opened her eyes at the sound, and her eyes widened sharply in surprise when she saw the aftermath of what had just occurred.

Six figures – three on either side of Flare-Up – had collapsed, purple flames clinging to their clothes and the backs of their necks. Flare-Up, unharmed, took it in stride and simply fired at another guard that was coming up behind the collapsed civilians.

 _I…I did that. I actually_ did _that._

Myra took in a breath, then summoned up her fire and threw the fireballs again. Two more civilians fell to either side of Flare-Up, who started to focus more on the armored figures and less on the civilians.

"Keep going!" Flare-Up called.

"R-right!" Myra started to prepared another round of purple fire to throw at the figures below, but a sudden chill on the back of her neck caused her to stop just before she could throw again.

Flare-Up seemed to notice it, as well; she paused for a second before she deactivated her cannon and crossed arms over her chest. When the remaining eight armored figures came up on her, a sudden shockwave of flames burst out as she threw her arms out, causing them to stagger back before collapsing.

The street fell silent as the last one fell.

Flare-Up turned slowly, clenching and unclenching her right fist. Myra stood on the roof of her building uneasily, shifting from foot to foot.

And that's when she heard it: a low growling voice that made her blood run cold and sent shivers down her spine.

And it sounded like it was coming from somewhere behind her.

Myra turned slowly as Flare-Up turned to look in her direction. Myra didn't see Flare-Up's reaction to the creature that was standing behind her, but that didn't really matter at this point.

Because Myra was completely focused on the monstrous, black-eyed, gray-skinned figure that was panting heavily behind her.

"Eep!" Myra took a step back and felt the edge of the roof under her foot.

The monster took a step forward with large, clawed feet, clawed hands reaching forward.

Myra closed her eyes tightly and tried to curl up, making her a smaller and harder target. She felt a burst of warmth from behind her and curled up even more tightly.

"White Flare: Fire Spark!"

There came a crackle of something, and Myra's eyes snapped open just as yellow-white fire burst around her and hit the monster, causing it to howl as electric sparks danced across its form. As thrashed, its appearance changed: the gray skin gained some color, its hair went from black and white to a yellow-green, and the rags the monster was wearing started to look more like clothes and less like something that was barely clinging to its form.

Myra caught sight of the black box only after the fire had cleared and the figure had collapsed. It lay a short distance away, innocent except for the sparks flying from it and the strange whining noise it was emitting.

"I hadn't expected him to come after you."

Myra jumped as Flare-Up suddenly appeared next to her, standing on the roof as though she  _hadn't_  been on the street a few moments ago.

"Then again, considering that your powers are more focused on the mind, the Dark Arms might consider you more of a threat than me right now." Flare-Up looked at Myra with a calculating sort of gaze. It made Myra shrink back a little as she moved away from the edge of the roof. "It's not going to be easy for them to try something like this again; they have my attention now as much as they have yours."

The former monster – now a pointy-eared man – groaned from where he lay on the roof, causing Myra to look at him sharply, nervously. Flare-Up, however, didn't move back.

The man got into a sitting position and rubbed the back of his neck, eyes only half-open and somewhat glazed over. He paused, and his eyes focused sharply. "That thing—"

"It's gone." Flare-Up inclined her head as the man looked up sharply. "You're in control of yourself again, Jak."

The man's – Jak's – eyes narrowed at Flare-Up's statement. "Who are you?" His voice came out in a low growl, almost like it had been either unused or used to the point that his throat had been torn ragged.

"The one the Dark Arms are going nuts over." Flare-Up held out a hand. Jak reached up, hesitated, then gripped her hand and let her pull him to his feet. "And the one who's going to be releasing others from their control."

Jak grunted, then looked over at Myra, who pulled back a little. When she saw that his eyes weren't completely black, and were instead a normal blue, she hesitated.

Flare-Up motioned for the two of them to follow her, and she jumped off the roof of the building and landed on the ground in front of the house. The stone street cracked a little at her landing. "We have to get everyone in the base as soon as possible. Come on."

Jak gave a curt nod, then followed Flare-Up and jumped off the roof as she started over to the small crowd of figures she and Myra had knocked out. He looked up at the roof as Myra stood at its edge, hesitant.

"Come on." Jak motioned for Myra to jump. "You'll live, short ears."

Myra hesitated, then steeled herself. She'd jumped off buildings before, this wasn't new. It was her surroundings and the people who were.

Myra braced herself, then leapt off and rolled into a landing a short distance from Jak. As she got to her feet, Jak walked passed her and gave a short nod before he started helping Flare-Up get people up on their feet, checking the backs of their necks as he did for any sign of black boxes.

The people themselves were quick to recover from being hit by fire from Flare-Up or Myra, and they looked about in confusion and alarm as they were helped to their feet.

"…I wish that had been a dream…"

"—those people, I can't believe I was—"

"—I'm not going to be able to sleep for a long time, am I?"

"Why can't they just have left us alone? What did we ever do to—"

Flare-Up cleared her throat sharply, causing a number of them to turn their heads sharply and flinch back from her with alarmed expressions. She didn't bat an eye at their responses.

"There's a secret passage under the storage room in that building." Flare-Up nodded to the building they had just jumped off. "It'll take you to safety. Myra, go on ahead of them so the others know they're not under their control anymore."

Myra blinked at the sudden focus on her, and she nodded quickly before ducking inside the building and finding her way back into the room she and Flare-Up had climbed into. She didn't look back, but she could hear the sound of footsteps hitting the ground quickly, jumped into the tunnel, and started back.

It was only after she had walked a short distance that she looked back and saw how haggard and tired the long-eared people were. Some of them looked like they were going to drop into unconsciousness at any moment, and were leaning on the others.

Myra didn't pick up the pace, but when she came out of the tunnel and reached the arena, she stepped to the side as the rescued tumbled in and stopped not too far from the entrance, looking around in amazement at first, and then relief when they realized where they were.

Samos was already standing nearby on his log-stilts, Daxter perched on top of his staff like some kind of furry parrot.

"There you are!" Samos frowned at Myra with a scolding sort of expression. "When Nightwing and Seeker said that you and Flare-Up were out rescuing my people, I had expected you to be much quicker than this! Jak certainly knew the meaning of a time limit when he was given one!"

"We weren't given a countdown, Samos," Flare-Up replied crisply as she came out with the last of the rescued long-ears. Jak came through after her, looking around with a guarded expression that made him seem more like a wild animal, ready to lunge at anything that looked dangerous at any moment. "And time is broken, in case you haven't noticed, so giving us one is near-impossible."

 _"JAK!"_  Daxter flung himself off the top of Samos' staff and climbed up Jak's front. He grabbed his shirt and started shaking it, as though he could get Jak to shake like a bobble-head. "Where have you been, you idiot?! Why couldn't you have gotten a stake-out where I would'a been able to reach you, huh?!"

Jak rolled his eyes, but a slight smirk on his lips hinted that he was amused by Daxter rather than annoyed. "I didn't exactly have a choice, if you'll remember."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Daxter climbed up onto a worn piece of armor on Jak's shoulder. "Anyway, it's good to have ya back, buddy."

"Heh." Jak gained more of a smile then, showing off sharpened teeth that  _definitely_  didn't look normal. "It's good to be back."

Samos cleared his throat. "Now that we have  _that_  settled, its time we had you all settled in. Flare-Up, Myra, Seeker and Nightwing are waiting to speak with you by Mar's Throne."

Jak raised an eyebrow as Flare-Up nodded and started towards the center of the arena. "Samos, don't tell me there are  _more_  short ears running around here."

"Considering that the number of worlds they inhabit outnumber ours right now…." Samos sighed irritably. "You have a lot to catch up on, young prince. Let's get you settled first, then we'll talk about this damned World Collision."

Jak paused to consider that, then gave a short nod. As he and Samos started walking away, leading away the rescued long-eared figures, Jak looked back at Myra with a guarded expression.

"Myra!"

Myra turned her head sharply and saw Flare-Up standing a short distance away, arms folded across her chest. Myra quickly ran over to her.

"You have a good handle of the basics," Flare-Up said. "We should have time between missions now to work on other techniques you can use. After we talk to Nightwing and Seeker, I expect you to go find other psychics who might be here. They'll be able to help you more than me." With that, Flare-Up turned and started walking again.

It took Myra a second to process what Flare-Up had said before she ran after the World Jumper. When she caught up, she opened her mouth to say something, then hesitated. Then she shook her head and blurted out, "Are you and Nightwing related?"

Flare-Up glanced back at the question, not even breaking her stride. Then she faced forward again. "No."

Myra lowered her head a little. "Oh…."

When the two of them got back to the throne, Nightwing and Seeker were waiting for them with one other – Jean Grey, who Flare-Up inclined her head at as she and Myra came to a stop in front of the two teenage boys.

"Phoenix," Flare-Up greeted. "I've seen your work."

Jean Grey frowned. "My  _name_  is Jean, not that."

"You two did good work out there." Nightwing looked over at Jean, then back at Myra and Flare-Up. "The fact that you managed to get back their patriarch means we have a little more time here to bring back what these people have lost before we start to move on to the next Zone. We don't have enough numbers to take on the Dark City Zone entirely yet, but there are a few other places we can move to when we finish here."

Flare-Up inclined her head at that, raising an eyebrow slightly. Seeker looked at Nightwing with a raised eyebrow as well before he shook his head.

"Flare, I think Zero wanted to test your strengths back at the Gauntlet." Seeker looked at Flare-Up. "Jean can handle giving Myra some training for now; we'll have you two meet back here if anything comes up."

Flare-Up nodded, then looked at Jean for a moment before walking off.

Seeker's expression shifted from serious to something else as Flare-Up moved away from them. "She's too serious."

Jean looked at him oddly while Nightwing nodded slightly. Myra blinked in confusion.

"War does that," Nightwing said simply. He turned and walked away without another word.

Seeker sighed and shook his head. He stood there for a moment, looking at his boots as though they held something important, then turned and walked after Flare-Up, leaving Jean alone with Myra.

"Let's go." Jean motioned for Myra to follow her. "It's time we saw what you can do with those mental abilities of yours."

Myra swallowed at the grim tone Jean's voice had taken, then followed after her quietly, quickly, wondering what exactly she was going to go through and half-hoping that she wouldn't have to go on another mission for a while.

She didn't know about Flare-Up, but having Jak come up on her from behind looking like a monster…?

She didn't want to see what the MindTech might do to other people who were under its control.


	8. Training

Jean Grey was a grueling teacher and drill sergeant. She had Myra mediate, try to focus on moving things with her mind, and try to read  _Jean's_  mind. Each attempt ended up with something going sideways, mostly in the fact that every time Myra focus, her body would start to become covered in the same purple flames she'd used against the mind controlled long-ears that Myra and Flare-Up had rescued.

"This isn't working." Jean waved away the purple flames that Myra had conjured this time, dissipating the form of the apple she'd been trying to levitate. "Your abilities are psychic in nature, but they aren't connected with what they are in my universe."

Myra let out a sigh and fell back onto the mat she had been sitting on. "So no more training?"

"For now." Jean leaned over Myra and looked at her with a disapproving sort of expression as Myra stiffened. "Don't think that you're off the hook just because I can't figure out how your power works. There are other psychics here besides me." Jean moved out of Myra's line of sight. "Go get some rest. You're going to need it."

Myra scrambled to her feet and moved away from Jean quickly towards the shack, not wanting to stay there for any longer than she already had. Her head ached from how much she had been focusing, and her back and limbs ached from having had to sit still for so long.

Honestly, a little rest sounded like a really good idea to her. She needed time to think about everything that had happened – and was happening – and whether or not she should stick around.

She was now in some sort of secret base where the Dark Arms and their MindTech couldn't find her – for now. Unfortunately, she wasn't being given a chance to breathe and relax and gather her thoughts before moving on.

She was working on  _rescuing_  people. With the  _World Jumper._

If  _that_  thought wasn't startling enough, Myra had  _powers_  that she never remembered having. Did she have them before the World Collision? Were they caused  _by_  the World Collision?

It gave her even more of a headache to think about it, so she pushed the thought to the back of her mind as quickly as possible.

But, still, there was one question that was nagging her mind.

_Why had Flare-Up chosen her to work with?_

Seeker would have definitely been a better partner; he and Flare-Up were brother and sister. If what they'd said when they'd sparred was to be believed, anyway. So why didn't they partner up and leave Myra to just sit and relax for a little while before she moved on?

The sound of clashing metal-on-metal reached her ears, and Myra looked up, blinking in surprise when she found she had wandered over to Nightwing's Gauntlet.

And that Flare-Up and Zero were fighting against each other hand-to-hand, red, orange, and gray clashing against red and white.

Zero jumped back from a particularly close punch Flare-Up threw. "You know, the strength you have as a Reploid right now carries over to your human form. Even if you don't seem to have made much use of it."

Flare-Up slid back a little. "I never had the need to. Now I might be more willing to make use of it in order to gain an upper hand in battle."

Zero nodded. "Good. You have everything that Light gave you at your disposal; make sure you use everything you have to fight back."

"Speaking of which, I've found something interesting in your programming."

Myra turned and blinked in surprise when she saw Gear standing next to her, looking down at a tablet. How had she not noticed that he was there?

"I was trying to figure out how it is that you managed to gain an immunity to the MindTech, and it looks like every time someone activated the Protocol, the program changes – and, by extension, you change." Gear looked up at Flare-Up as she came to the edge of the small arena's ring. "Dr. Light originally made it as a work around for the MCP, right?"

 _MCP?_  Myra frowned and tilted her head to one side worriedly as Flare-Up nodded.

"Well, considering how much data you've picked up, you might be able to activate it  _yourself_  now. How that is, I'm not completely sure - you're going to have to discover that yourself - but I think it has something to do with how your core might resonate with other people." Gear tapped the tablet a couple times, closing out the program he had been looking at and slipping the device into a holster on his right leg. "It might be something to look into later."

"When we are  _not_  trying to save the world," Zero added. "Again."

Flare-Up nodded grimly, then noticed Myra standing at the edge of the arena. "Did you come to spar?"

Myra jumped at the question, startled out of her thoughts. She shook her head. "I-I was heading back to go sleep, and…." She trailed off, uncertain as to how to continue.

"Go sleep, kid." Zero made a shooing motion with one hand. "We don't need it as much as you do."

Myra nodded and started to move back towards the shacks.

"Myra."

Myra stopped when she heard Flare-Up speak up.

"Jean Grey didn't give you any assistance in training, did she." The question wasn't said like a question.

Myra looked back, blinking in surprise. "How did—"

"There's more to having mental powers than being able to read minds and move things without touching them." Flare-Up paused. "When you are rested, Crystal might be of more help to you than other psychics here."

Myra blinked, not quite sure where Flare-Up's words had come from and why she was offering that now. Flare-Up probably knew what she was talking about, though, so she nodded and went back to the shack that she and Crystal were staying in.

She came back to find that Crystal was yelling at the space under the bed.

"Come out here and—" Crystal looked up in surprise as Myra stepped in. "Oh! You're back!"

"Uh…yeah." Myra looked over at the bed; if the Nightmare King was listening in, she didn't see him. "I, um…I helped Flare-Up with rescuing some people."

"Really? That's great!" Crystal smiled brightly, her tail tip wagging back and forth. "We're one step closer to rescuing everyone! Who'd you find?"

"…I think the one that can turn into a monster is Jak?" Myra frowned a little. "I didn't really catch his name."

"Jak turned into a monster?" Crystal frowned, ears swiveling.

 ** _"Jak was changed before the Collision, so I have been told,"_**  said the Nightmare King from under the bed.  ** _"That little transformation is something he can control. So long as you don't get in his way, you won't be hurt."_**  He chuckled darkly.  ** _"I can't guarantee that you won't be afraid, however."_**

Crystal's eyebrows came together as her brow furrowed. "Oh…well, at least it wasn't caused by the Dark Arms." She blinked, then tilted her head at Myra. "Something else on your mind?"

Myra stiffened a little at the question. "O-oh, um…well, it turns out I've got powers, too, but I don't really know how to use them. Jean tried to help me, but I don't think what works for her works for me."

Crystal's ears went straight up. "You have powers?!" Blue eyes sparked, and Crystal jumped up and down eagerly. "Show me! Show me!"

**_"Yes, do, before her squealing makes me lose my hearing."_ **

Myra held out her hands, palms up, and set them ablaze; Crystal's jumping stopped as soon as the purple flames made their appearance.

"Wow…" Crystal leaned in closer to Myra's hands. Myra started to pull back a little, but Crystal grabbed her wrists. "I haven't seen a psychic power like this before. It almost looks like a Delphox mixing Mystical Fire and Psyshock."

"A what mixing what?" Myra blinked in confusion.

"It's a Pokémon thing." Crystal looked sheepish for a moment, then eager. "But that means that I could train you! I know tricks and things for when Psychic power becomes solid like this! I bet the flame-form of your powers will give you an extra edge most Psychic-Types don't have in my dimension!"

Myra blinked a couple times. "S-so, you'll teach me?"

"Yes!" Crystal looked at Myra with bright eyes and an equally bright smile. The smile faded after a moment. "Maybe it would be a good idea that you get some rest first, though. Jean probably tried to push you a lot before you got here."

Myra sighed in relief, her shoulders dropping. "Yeah, she did. I don't know what she was trying to get my powers to do, but it didn't feel right to me."

"Well, I should be able to help you figure things out later." Crystal clapped Myra on the shoulder. "Go ahead and get some sleep. I'll wake you later."

Myra nodded, then climbed up into the top bunk and sank into the mattress.

**Time Break**

Myra woke up to someone tapping on her shoulder. She yawned and cracked her eyes open slowly, then squinted as they focused on Crystal's face.

"The arena's open," Crystal said. "You up for a little training?"

Myra yawned, then nodded and sat up. As she did, she noticed that Crystal was  _floating_  next to the bunk bed, instead of standing on the lower bunk.

Crystal noticed the stare and laughed. "Levitating will come later. We need you to know how to attack first."

Myra blinked, then nodded dumbly and climbed out of bed as Crystal landed on the floor of the shack. As soon as Myra's feet hit the ground, the two stepped out and headed over to the arena.

Just like Crystal had said, the area didn't appear to be in use. There were people standing near it, though – Jak, Daxter, and Samos – and they appeared to be arguing.

"In case you haven't noticed, you're vulnerable to whatever it is that those monsters are using out there!" Samos attempted to whack Jak over the head with his staff, but the taller male dodged it with practiced ease, Daxter crouching lowo n his shoulder. "The only reason that you were able to come back is because of Flare-Up's actions!"

Jak's eyes narrowed. "In case you haven't noticed, she's only one person. There are multiple zones out there and more people than us ten times over who've been trapped in that. I am going to help."

Samos' green-tinged skin was getting greener. "In case you haven't noticed, we don't have access to as much Eco as we used to! Even if you wanted to help, you'd be extremely vulnerable as Dark Jak and unable to find any free supply of the other Ecos, much less the ability to channel them all at once in order to create Light Eco! You're even more powerless than you were at the start of all this!"

"I'll be the judge of that," Jak replied shortly. He noticed Myra and Crystal standing nearby. "Hey, you. Short ears."

"H-huh?" Myra blinked, startled. She shied away from Jak a little, remembering the monster form that he'd been in when she and Flare-Up had first seen him.

Jak rolled his eyes. "Get over here, kid, I'm not gonna bite your head off. You two, cat ears."

"My name is Crystal, and this is Myra," Crystal corrected. "I don't exactly appreciate being referred to by something I'm not."

Jak snorted and shrugged. "You running around out there, Crystal?"

Crystal shook her head. "I'm too powerful; if the Dark Arms got their hands on me it would be very difficult to get me back."

"You don't look strong to me."

Crystal's ears flicked. "Well, you don't look like you could be even remotely nice and stay still for a second, and yet you're standing here and you're not pacing like someone straight out of the woods."

Daxter motioned for Crystal to shut up, but Jak snorted again and smirked.

"You got a good point there, kid." Jak looked over at Myra. "I definitely wasn't expecting short ears to be throwing around fire like that other one."

"I go by Flare-Up, Jak." Flare-Up walked over, back in her seemingly normal human clothes. "I'll answer just as well to World Jumper or Reploid, on account of the fact that my name is being used by the Dark Arms as a tracking mechanism."

Jak raised an eyebrow. "So, you did come. Up for a match?"

Flare-Up rolled her shoulders, and her clothes gave off a gentle flash before shifting to her armor. She gave a curt nod.

Jak grinned widely. "Good. Let's see how strong you really are." He walked onto the arena, Flare-Up following after him with her hands in loose fists.

"Looks like we won't be able to use the arena to train your powers." Crystal looked at Myra. "Oh, well. I guess we'll just have to find some other way to help you out for a while. You've figured out how to summon your flames, at least – that's a good thing. So maybe we could work a little on something else."

Myra looked over at the arena as Flare-Up and Jak started to circle around each other. She nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good to me."


	9. Rescue Mission: Sentient Machines

Crystal's training regimen was easier on Myra than Jean's had been, which was a good thing because Myra was glad to have more of a breather than the other psychic had offered.

Unfortunately, they were only in the middle of the initial moments of meditation when something collided with the arena from the outside.

Myra stiffened, eyes snapping open at the sound as Crystal's ears went straight up.

"What was—"

The door to their shack was thrown open with a sudden crash by a familiar red-headed young man with a red, white, and blue shield made of light on his arm.

"We're under attack!" James motioned for them to come out of the shack. "We need everyone ready to move,  _now!"_

Crystal scrambled to her feet quickly, Myra following suit. "What?! Since when?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is…." James shook his head and motioned for them to follow him. "Come on – Flare-Up and Aura Seeker are already on the move. Myra, Flare-Up said she wants you with me for this."

"With you?" Myra blinked. "But I thought—"

"Something's different from the mission that had you bring back Jak. I think both Flare-Up and Aura Seeker know who's coming."

Myra blinked a couple times; she hadn't been expecting that.

Another rumbling crash came from somewhere outside, prompting the three to run out of the shack and towards the outer wall of the arena. As Myra left the shack last, she noticed that something moved out from under the bed – a dark shadow of some kind – and dove into her own shadow.

She tried not to think about what it meant as she followed Crystal and James.

The rest of the secret base – it felt more like a hidden city, now that Myra thought about it – was now in near-complete chaos. People, costumed and not, were running all over the place, gathering children and moving them into the center and moving out towards the outer edge, calling out to each other as they went.

"Man your stations!"

"Attack incoming!"

"Code Metal Titan!"

James cursed under his breath in a language Myra didn't recognize. "Of course they would send  _them_  after us now that we've got Flare-Up on our side. This isn't good!"

An engine roar suddenly went off, and a dark blue motorcycle with pink highlights and  _no driver_  sped past them suddenly and toward a part of the arena that seemed to have cracks starting to appear on the walls.

"What the—"

"Arcee, don't!" James yelled after the motorcycle. "You could be—"

"I have to try!" snapped back a woman's voice. Myra was startled to find it was coming  _from the motorcycle._  "I am not going to stand by this time and let everything fall apart!"

The motorcycle reared up on its rear wheel, then blasted forward and left the trio behind.

"What was—"

"She's going to get herself black boxed if she's this reckless!" James gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Who  _was_  that?" Myra asked a little louder.

"Arcee," Crystal replied. She jumped up, then flattened out in a horizontal position as she started  _flying_  next to Myra. "She's an alien machine."

"She's  _what?!"_

"We'll have time to talk about what she is later!" James snapped in reply. "We have to focus on keeping off this invasion  _now!_ "

The redhead pointed towards the outer wall, which was starting to form cracks in a certain circular pattern, dented inwards.

There already was a small group of figures gathered at the base of the wall. Flare-Up and Seeker were standing at the front of the group, a short distance from the wall.

Myra and James came skidding to a stop, catching Captain America's and Zero's attention.

"Stay back." Zero motioned for them to move back. "You're not going to want to get involved in this."

"Why? What's coming?" Myra frowned, worried.

"Just stand back. You don't want to get involved in—"

The wall suddenly caved in. Multiple large, dark figures stood on the other side. One stepped through – tall, in red and blue armor, and clearly  _metallic_.

Myra suddenly knew why the words "Metal Titan" had been thrown around as she'd been running.

A smaller figure swung out from behind the red and blue metal titan's neck – dressed all in blue, including a blue hood, with a snake head-crest of some kind on his chest. Myra almost got the feeling that he was sneering at them as other metal titans spilled in through the opening that he'd made.

"So, this is the great Mar's Haven," the man in blue sneered. "Where are your other bases? You are  _missing_  more than we were informed you were."

Flare-Up stepped forward, Seeker remaining right behind her. The movement caused the metal titans – Myra could count five standing in the arena now with their backs to the hole in the wall – the red and blue one, two yellows, a red, and a dark green one – to shift their stances, glowing white eyes feeling blank and ominous. Like they were more ready to jump on the group in front of them at any moment.

Myra's hands sparked with purple flames. Something about these metal titans made her feel really, really uneasy, but she wasn't sure why.

The purple crystal under her shirt pulsed.

"What do you think, Seeker?" Flare-Up's voice carried over the group as they shifted into ready stances. James started to prep to throw a light shield, but Captain America put his shield in front of his adopted son and shook his head a little.

"Back of the neck, and definitely not settled in like it would for humans," Seeker replied. "But it goes deeper. We're going to have to be careful removing it."

"Are they saying that those—those robots are MindTech'd, too?" Crystal asked, keeping her voice low.

"They're not robots."

Myra turned her head sharply at the voice and caught sight of the motorcycle that had rocketed past them earlier – Arcee.

"They're Cybertronians – Autobots, like me." Arcee's voice was clipped and grim. "And they shouldn't be doing this."

"You know, you've been causing a lot of trouble."

Myra looked back up when she heard the blue-hooded man speak again.

"In case you haven't noticed, we've had to pull out the big guns just to look for you. How about you come quietly and nobody's gonna get hurt, huh?"

"…."

Myra felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise suddenly, and her body took a step back on instinct. It  _recognized_  this somehow but she wasn't sure from  _where._

Was this…was this an old memory? From before?

_"My sister's reckless, but she's pretty powerful. I haven't seen her use her most powerful move, but my brother has, and he said she can be a real force to be reckoned with."_

Myra looked around in confusion. Where had that voice come from?

"Seeker."

A bright blue glow started to come from Seeker, covering him in a bright blue aura that Myra found strange and familiar. Then flames started sparking from Flare-Up's shoulders, little spurts of red-orange that were quickly turning white.

"This presence," Crystal murmured, eyes slowly widening. "This is the same one that—"

"So you're not coming quietly." The blue-hooded man shook his head, then snapped his fingers. The red and blue robot – Cybertronian – started to move towards them.

"NOW!"

White and blue erupted, causing the group to stumble back as tendrils of white flame gained a blue hue from the pulse of energy that flew out from Seeker.

The Cybertronians started to move into defensive positions, but the white-blue flames wove around them much more quickly than Myra was able to follow with her eyes.

And all of them went straight for the backs of the Cybertronians who were on their side of the hole. One went for the blue-hooded man.

All six hit. They dropped to their mechanical knees or fell off his perch on the red and blue Cybertronian's shoulder.

The rest of the Cybertronians started to come in – another red one, a white one, and two that were mostly silver – one of whom was so covered in spikes that Zero took a step back.

"Move it!" Flare-Up barked. "Give us time to set up another!"

The costumed figures standing between Myra, Crystal, and James and the Cybertronians lunged forward, pulling out weapons and yelling battle cries at the tops of their lungs.

As the still-standing Cybertronians' hands collapsed into their arms, revealing the business ends of guns, Myra stepped back again nervously, eyes flicking all over the place as she tried to keep track of who was moving towards what. She thought she caught sight of Jak lunging past the yellow and red Cybertronians Flare-Up and Seeker had hit before lunging towards the white one, snarling as his skin turned gray.

"Aura Shock!"

"Fire Spark!"

A blue flash of what looked like lightning and a yellow-white burst of flames collided with the two silver Cybertronians in the center, causing their weapons to freeze up. Myra saw a flash of green as a figure scrambled up the leg of the spike-covered Cybertronian.

"Is that kid crazy?" Zero muttered. "Those things could kill a Reploid from contact alone."

An engine revved suddenly, and Arcee shot past them and around the others running towards the Cybertronians, dodging shots of bright blue energy that scorched the ground where she'd been seconds before.

As Myra watched, she suddenly  _transformed._

No longer a motorcycle and instead a giant blue Cybertronian, she clashed with the silver Cybertronian who wasn't covered in spikes, and instead had wings growing out of his back. "Starscream!"

"Whoa!" Myra's jaw dropped.

"Arcee, stay back!"

Myra turned and jumped when she saw Ratchet coming up behind them. She looked between him and the Cybertronians the others were fighting, and something quickly put two and two together:  _Ratchet_  was a Cybertronian, too.

"Ratchet, I am not going to stand by when they're not in their right minds!" Arcee snarled back. She reached around behind Starscream and grasped something, then pulled.

The shriek that came from Starscream caused the fallen over Cybertronians to wince at the sound.

Myra clapped her hands over her ears as Crystal winced back in alarm.

"You didn't make that noise when—" James' question was cut off when Captain America shook his head.

"Flare-Up freed me the same way she did the others." Captain America nodded to the five Cybertronians who were starting to rise to their feet, rubbing the backs of their necks.

"She  _what?"_  Ratchet demanded sharply.

Ratchet's bark caused the head of the red and blue Cybertronian to shoot up, glowing blue eyes locking with Ratchet's.

"Ratchet?" the Cybertronian rumbled in confusion.

"Seeker!" Flare-Up barked again. "White Flare!"

"Aura Flare!" Seeker responded in turn as they unleashed the same attack as before. They white missile-like tendrils of flame shot towards the Cybertronians who were still fighting against the others. People scrambled out of the way just as the combined attack slammed into the five Cybertronians, nearly missing Arcee as she ducked out of the way.

The next five collapsed, leaving the opening to the arena clear.

"Wow…." Myra's eyes were wide as the next five started to recover themselves. "What just—"

"I didn't think there were other moves beyond the Pledge attacks from Unova that could merge like that." Crystal's eyes were wide, as well. "That's….wow. Flare-Up is  _really_  strong."

Myra nodded dumbly as James shook his head to recover himself. Zero, who had stayed back from the fight, looked like he was trying to keep his respect hidden from the rest.

"I-If she's that strong, why did she choose to work with  _me?"_  Myra asked quietly. "I can't do those things."

"You don't have to."

Myra looked at Crystal with an expression of surprise.

"Flare-Up could be looking at training you, too," Crystal suggested. "My teachers were both legendary in their own right, and they still decided to take me on as a student. She could be doing the same thing."

"Even if I slow her down?"

"You'll catch up. You helped her rescue Jak Mar and his people. I'm sure you'll be able to keep doing that so long as they're normal-sized!"

Crystal's cheerful voice made Myra smile a little, but not by much. Seeker's and Flare-Up's display of power was incredible, and the combined Flare attack was still bouncing around in her mind.

"It is good to see you are well," said one of the Cybertronians – the red and blue one – as stepped over to Ratchet. His footing stumbled, and he nearly fell over.

Ratchet caught him before he could collapse. "And you are clearly  _not._  Arcee, help who you can to the medbay –  _now!_ "

"Sure thing, Doc." Arcee helped one of the yellow Cybertronians – one with black stripes – start to move forward, one arm over her shoulders. "Good to have you back, Bee."

"Good to be back." Bee seemed uncertain about his own voice, and grimaced a little. "Man, this helmache…."

"It'll go away in time," Flare-Up said crisply from where she and Seeker stood in the midst of them. "Watch your step; there are a lot of humans in here."

The Cybertronians nodded as the other costumed figures moved out of their way.

"Sorry about the wall," said the dark green, round Cybertronian.

"Forge! Gear! Get your group together and start patching!" Seeker motioned for a young man wearing goggles and a dark blue and yellow uniform, as well as Gear, who scrambled towards the wall as something detached from his back and started to scramble up the wall. "We don't have much time before more could attack; the least we can do is make sure it's whole before we move on."

"What?!" Myra yelped. "Moving on?!"

"The base is compromised," James said. "We're going to have to move asap if we're going to avoid getting found by the Dark Arms in person." He turned and bolted.

**_"Well, that was some display."_ **

Myra leapt and whirled as something rose up from her shadow – a tall, thin figure with gray skin and black, spiky hair. Red and yellow eyes looked not down at Myra, but over at Flare-Up with a sneering expression.

"I hadn't thought that the World Jumper would be something so powerful as that, especially when partnered with people she knows," the man commented.

Flare-Up looked over and inclined her head before she came over. Seeker followed after her.

"Pitch Black." Seeker came to a stop behind Flare-Up, hands on his hips. "Are you done hiding under your bed?"

"That will remain to be seen," Pitch purred in reply. "Where do you plan to head back to, then? Unless you have any other hidden bases up those skinny sleeves of yours."

"The design choice to make this a jumpsuit was Nightwing's idea, not mine," Seeker muttered. He raised his voice. "Unless I get any objections, the plan is to move back to the Ravaged Castle in the Mushroom Zone. It's one of our earlier bases, and I know that at least one of us here knows the sewer system there like the back of his hand."

Flare-Up raised an eyebrow at him.

"We'll leave some people here to keep an eye on the Haven. Now that we've rescued Jak and the rest of the people in this part of the Zone, we can tell them Jak can use Eco in order to free what few are left." Seeker nodded over to Jak, who had returned to what Myra guessed was his normal appearance and was coming towards them. "It's the least we can do, after having intruded on their space like this."

"I hope you intend to keep your end of the bargain," Pitch said. He bared his teeth. "The fear that I'm feeling is not the kind that I would like to be feeling."

"I will rescue the Guardians, as I said to you before," Seeker replied evenly. "It will simply take time to find our way to North's Stronghold again, you know that. It's a few Zones away from here; we can reach it after we've rescued others."

Pitch sneered, then dropped down into Myra's shadow with a low grumbling noise that sent a chill down Myra's spine.

"Be careful making promises that are nearly impossible to keep," Flare-Up said. She walked past them. "Myra, Crystal, be ready to move."

Myra blinked a couple times, then nodded. "I'm always ready to move. But what kind of place is the Mushroom Zone?"

Seeker paused as he started to move past them. "It's a kingdom, but it's got its own problems. After the World Collision, they've only gotten worse. So you'll have to watch your step when we get there."

Myra frowned a little as Seeker moved after Flare-Up.

"What?" Crystal asked.

"Watching my step is something I'm used to," Myra replied. "I'm just wondering what I'm going to be watching out  _for._ "


	10. Mushroom Zone

The Time Barrier jump this time wasn't just on one truck this time, but a full caravan. Myra shivered and clutched the purple crystal under her shirt as they burst through on the other side.

Flare-Up, who was sitting on the other side of the truck bed from Myra, didn't even flinch as they passed through and jolted as the truck hit cobblestone ground.

"They're getting worse," Flare-Up muttered.

"The Time Barriers?" Myra turned her gaze away from the twisted trees that were on either side of the road, and the ruined buildings with dome-shaped roofs that were scattered in the distance.

"The worlds." Flare-Up's tone was clipped and grim.

"The Dark Arms don't put much attention into the upkeep of the worlds they've brought here," Seeker explained from the cab of the truck. "They keep more track of the people they control than anything else. I know you can guess why."

Flare-Up's eyes narrowed while Myra frowned.

"You mean, it's because we were able to get close enough in the beginning to win them back, right?" Crystal asked from where she sat next to Myra.

"That, and they just don't care about the people who were already there."

Myra felt a chill run down her spine at Seeker's words. "You mean – we could  _run into_  some of them  _here?_ "

"We won't know until we get to what remains of the castle." Seeker turned to look at the man dressed in green who was sitting next to him in the cab. "I'm not sensing any presences nearby; it seems this part of the Zone's been abandoned, at least."

"Not even Boos?" the other responded.

"You remember what happened; Boos have a very distinct aura and I  _definitely_ know how to sense those."

"Have you run into them before?" Myra asked.

Seeker tilted his head slightly as the man in green shuddered. "Once. Before. They were more of an annoyance than anything else."

Flare-Up snorted.

The truck caravan broke out of the scraggly trees and entered what once was a central plaza. Cobblestones were uprooted left and right, houses had collapsed in on themselves, and there was an eerie quiet over everything that made Myra feel horribly uneasy.

The partially destroyed castle that stood over everything, faded pink walls looking more gray under the dark, clouded-over sky made that feeling double in strength.

"I don't like the feel of this place," Myra said.

A dark chuckle came from her shadow, causing her to stiffen.  ** _"No one likes to stay long after the Dark Arms have passed through. Keep your eyes and ears open. There may be some stragglers here yet."_**

Myra instantly turned her gaze away from the inside of the truck and looked out towards the horizon in the distance, looking over the destroyed trees and the strange, brown, crumbling floating blocks that were hovering in the air in random places. There wasn't so much as a breath of wind to this place, and it made her uneasy.

Flare-Up shifted in her seat on the other side of the truck bed, eyeing a crumbling brown block that was in the air a short distance from them. It bumped against the smoke stack of the red and blue vehicle that was following behind them, and it crumbled to the ground. The sound echoed. "So time isn't completely stopped here, then."

"It can do that?" Myra blinked sharply.

"In some places," Seeker replied from the truck cab. "Don't worry about it, Flare; this place follows the game mechanics pretty closely."

Flare-Up looked away from the place where the brick had been and nodded shortly.

Seeker brought the truck to a stop a short distance from the stairs that led up to the destroyed palace. The other vehicles came to a stop in a tight circle around the central plaza of the destroyed town as Seeker climbed onto the top of his truck cab. The green man who had been in the cab scrambled after him.

"Everyone, this is Luigi." Seeker looked around as the others looked out from their vehicles – or, in some cases, the vehicles themselves shifted their positions some. "He's one of the few from the Mushroom Zone who escaped the Dark Arms. He's offered his help in finding us a temporary base to hide in while we see about winning this area back as much as we possibly can."

"H-hello." Luigi waved, a distinct accent in his voice that Myra hadn't really heard before.

"Will there be enough room for the Cybertronians?" Gear poked his head out the red and blue semi truck. "I mean, Optimus and Megatron are pretty big themselves."

"S-sure, sure." Luigi nodded. "Space gets-a bit—" He made a motion with his hands and made a noise that sounded similar to a ghost moaning. "Just-a be careful where you go." He motioned for the caravan to follow him, then jumped off the hood of the truck with a "hup!" before he started up towards the deteriorating castle.

Seeker and Flare-Up followed after him instantly on foot, prompting the rest of the small army to do the same.

Myra scrambled to catch up with Flare-Up before looking back when she heard metal slide against metal. Her eyes widened in amazement as the Cybertronians shifted out of their vehicle forms and stood tall above the others.

"I don't think I'm going to ever get used to seeing that," Myra said.

Flare-Up snorted. Seeker looked back at his sister with an odd expression before looking back at Myra.

"I used to think that. But then I met with so many of them the novelty of it wore off." Seeker looked back at the Cybertronians as they reached the top of the stairs. "Still, there is something about them that you can't help but admire."

Flare-Up paused at that, looking over at Seeker with a guarded expression. He noticed and gave her a slight shrug in response before moving to catch up with Luigi as he walked through the palace gates.

The courtyard of the palace – as well as a palace itself – had clearly seen better days. Trees had been uprooted, the stone wall looked like it had exploded in some places, and craters littered the ground.

The only thing that stood untouched in the courtyard was a large, green pipe that was sticking up out of the ground. It almost looked cartoonish compared to the rest of the area.

Luigi let out a sigh of relief. "It's-a still here. Good." He jumped up on top of the edge and balanced there for a moment. "Okey-dokey."

The man in green took a deep breath, then jumped down into the pipe.

Myra jumped back at the noise that echoed as soon as Luigi disappeared from sight. It only seemed to echo  _inside_  the pipe, however – it didn't echo in the air around them.

"It's a good pipe," Seeker said in surprise. "I'd have thought the Dark Arms would have demolished every single one of them. At least now we can get down there and clear out the sewers."

Flare-Up nodded, then leapt into the pipe after Luigi.

Myra started to follow after her, but a loud scream from somewhere in the caravan behind them stopped her short.

Seeker turned sharply. "We're under attack! Move!" He bolted out of the courtyard towards the central plaza; Myra and Crystal quickly ran after him.

Out in the central plaza, a small swarm of humanoid creatures with mushroom caps was starting to attack the Cybertronians, crawling up their legs in silent unison.

"Toadstools!" Seeker's hands started to glow with blue fire. "They're locals here! Do what you can to free them – stunning energy projectiles  _only!"_

"Azari! Torrun!" came James' shout from the caravan. "Get them with a lightning—"

Something sparked to Myra's right. "Shock Wave!"

Myra jumped away from Crystal when a burst of bright yellow electricity shot out and collided with the five mushroom people on Arcee's legs. They fell off at once, little streamers of smoke shooting off the backs of their heads. "How did—"

"Any move a Pokémon can use, I can too." Crystal looked at Myra with a determined spark in her eye. "I'm not just a Psychic-Type."

"Smart thinking." Seeker nodded. "Don't let up and bring them back to their senses!"

_crackle crackle BOOM._

Myra jumped as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Her eyes were wide as blue-white and yellow-white branches of lighting shot out from the left side of the truck ring, cascading sparks over Optimus and Ratchet and causing the Toadstools to fall off their limbs.

"Infernal little creatures," snarled the spike-covered Cybertronian as another Shock Wave from Crystal threw them off him. "If I could get my hands on—"

"If you so much as harm them, Megatron, we will be having  _words,_ " Ratchet hissed. He pulled out a wrench that was as big as his torso and shook it at the other mech, who raised his hands in a placating gesture.

Myra shook her head as another round of sparks hit their marks, and she started to focus on her own powers. Purple fire bloomed to life on her hands, but instead of throwing it, Myra held onto it and started to create more.

Seeker's eyebrows shot up as the fire started to crawl up Myra's arms, but she ignored him. Her focus was on the dark green, round Cybertronian – Bulkhead, she remembered someone saying – and the little people he was covered in.

Myra's mind went back to the attack that Seeker and Flare-Up had used on the Cybertronians in Mar's Haven, and she instinctively pushed her powers  _out._

The words that came out of her mouth that same moment weren't the ones she had been expecting herself to shout.

"Mental Shock!"

_zzzzap!_

The purple blast of fire-lightning zipped across the plaza and rammed into the Toadstools crawling all over Bulkhead. It zipped from one to the next, causing them to fall off him in a cascade of little mushroom-headed figures until the move dissipated into the air after colliding with the last of them.

Myra dropped her hands as another burst from Crystal, Azari, and Torrunn took out the remaining Toadstools. Her arms felt much heavier than they had been a moment ago.

A dark chuckle came from where Pitch was hiding in Myra's shadow.  ** _"Interesting…."_**

"I wouldn't recommend doing that again."

Myra turned as Flare-Up came out of the pipe and started towards them. Luigi popped up after her with a "hup!"

"At least not for a while," Seeker added.

"Pushing your abilities like that drains you more quickly than basic attacks," Flare-Up continued, glancing over at Seeker. "You probably aren't ready to use an attack with that kind of strength yet. Use it as a last resort for now."

Seeker raised an eyebrow as Myra nodded.

"That makes sense," Myra said.

"Sewer's clear," Luigi chirped from the pipe. He motioned for them to come over.

"What about the Cybertronians?" Crystal asked. "They won't be able to fit!"

"They will," Luigi replied. There was a mysterious tone in his voice. "Pipes have a weird-a magic. They've-a shrunk me before, they'll shrink-a the big bots, no problem!" His expression brightened, and he disappeared down the pipe with a "yahoo!"

Myra blinked in confusion. "Magic...?"

_"Magic comes from Materia. Some people are able to tap into the Lifestream itself and use the Mako there, but that's a last resort. Mako can be a poison to people who aren't used to it."_

"Mako." Myra frowned, then shook her head.

Flare-Up and Seeker looked at her, then exchanged looks.

"Come on." Seeker motioned for Myra and Crystal to follow him, then raised his voice. "Follow us into the sewers below the palace! We'll at least have some cover there."

Myra quickly followed after Seeker as Flare-Up reached the pipe first and jumped down it. Seeker followed after her a moment later.

"Think we can jump down it together?" Crystal looked at Myra as they started to climb up onto the edge of the pipe.

Myra looked down at the pipe's opening. "Uh…I think we'd barely be able to fit? It  _looks_  like it could be big enough for two people…."

"Well then let's go!" Crystal grabbed Myra's hand and jumped, pulling Myra down with her and into the darkness.

The same noise Myra had heard before echoed three times around them, and then everything brightened up again as Myra and Crystal tumbled out of the pipe and fell into a scrambled pile.

"Ha! Well, that's one way to make an entrance!"

Myra looked up and saw Seeker with his hands on his hips and a grin on his face.

"I guess you two aren't used to traveling by pipe." He held out his hands.

Crystal and Myra took one hand each and were pulled to their feet by Seeker, untangling themselves from each other as they did.

"Is that…common, around here?" Myra looked around in order to see where they had ended up.

The large, circular room that the pipe opened up into had a dome roof like their last base had, but this one was clearly smaller. Green pipe openings shot out at regular intervals around the wall, but some of them looked horribly rusted while others had part of the ceiling collapse over the openings.

"Pretty common for plumbers." Seeker paused, then pulled Myra and Crystal away from the pipe as more figures started to tumble through – Gear first, then Forge, then James and his team, followed closely by Captain America. "We'd better steer clear of the pipes for a while; people are going to be coming in."

Nightwing came in as Cap and the first group moved out of the way, followed closely by a small number of older teenagers in various costumes.

"Never thought we'd use this place as a base again," Nightwing said grimly.

Seeker nodded in agreement as the next group of people tumbled in: X, Zero, Serges, and Cain. "I know. But we probably won't be here for long, considering what's going on now. With Flare-Up back, things are going to be moving a lot more quickly than I think either one of us was expecting at first."

"You're either saying that because my presence means you can get more done or because we're more at risk of being found." Flare-Up looked over from where she was standing in the center of the dome, arms folded across her chest. "In any event, you'd be right on both counts. Winning back Zones and those who have been controlled will get the Dark Arms' attention, which will mean that we have to move quickly. As soon as everyone is settled in, I'm taking Myra and we're looking for Bowser."

Something about the name didn't sound friendly. "Who?"

"He's-a King Koopa," Luigi replied, as though that explained everything. He suddenly looked nervous.

"And the only other person in the Zone who owns a castle in this area," Seeker added as a man in a red and yellow suit of armor tumbled out of the pipe and into the room. He was followed by Jean Grey and a bald, older man in a wheelchair. Somehow, he looked more composed than Jean did. "I don't know if he's been taken or not, but it might be a good idea to try to find him. If the Dark Arms took him, we'd have a very difficult time on our hands as a result."

"Are you-a sure you can-a take-a down Bowser?" Luigi looked up at Flare-Up. "He's a bit of a brute if you don't-a know his weak spots."

"I've got the permanent affects of a Fire Flower; if he hits me with a flamethrower, I'll be fine," Flare-Up replied without pause. "Myra's abilities would still have an effect; as a mental attack instead of a physical one, Bowser's natural defenses wouldn't do well against it."

_Clang clang clang!_

"Waa!" Starscream came flying out of the pipe and skidded across the stone floor before coming to a stop with a groan.

Flare-Up looked down at the now-shrunken Cybertronian with a deadpan expression as Myra stared with wide eyes.

Starscream grumbled something and pushed himself to his feet. As soon as he reached his full height – which was a head and shoulders taller than Flare-Up – he  _shrieked._  "What in Unicron is this?! I'm the size of a Mini-Con!"

_Clang clang clang!_

The rest of the Cybertronians fell through, now shrunk down to a closer-to-average-human-size.

"Considering that I've been compared to that before, I'm nor sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult." Flare-Up inclined her head and looked at Starscream with lidded eyes.

Starscream spluttered as Ratchet came up behind him, wrench in hand. "I-I-I—"

"I'll decide later; we have other things to worry about." Flare-Up looked over at the pipe as Ratchet lowered the wrench and Luthor, Brainiac, and the hooded man they'd rescued at the same time as the Cybertronians came through, followed closely by the small mob of Toadstools that had been rescued moments before. "Myra, Crystal, Luigi – we should get moving, before they find us again. Be ready to head up to the surface to find the locals."

"Not gonna give yerself a breather?" asked the mostly-white Cybertronian standing next to Optimus.

"If I did, Jazz, they could be all over us before we even have a chance to fight back," Flare-Up replied. "I don't plan to give them that chance."

"The kid's turning into a Prowl," a red Cybertronian whispered to his yellow-armored twin.

Arcee slapped him upside the back of his head. "Sideswipe, I don't think you have a right to say she's anything."

"Wait! You  _want_  me to go with you?" Crystal looked at Flare-Up with wide eyes.

"Yes." Flare-Up blinked. "You're powerful, and you can remove the Mind Tech without permanently damaging the victim."

"B-but what if I—"

"There's always that risk no matter where you go." Something in Flare-Up's gaze softened for a second, then hardened again. "Constantly moving and assisting will keep you on your toes. It will help." She looked around as the last few figures stepping into the room – a rather haggard-looking, dark-haired man with dark green clothes and an archer wearing a purple costume with an "H" on his hood. Flare-Up's eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked at Seeker again. "We have work to do."

Seeker nodded. "I agree, but we can only send out one team at a time unless we want to leave any refugees alone here." He nodded to the Toadstools, who were looking around at the group with worried, nervous expressions.

One of the Toadstools looked at Seeker, and his expression brightened. "Matthew! Boy, am I glad to see you!" He waddled over quickly and grabbed Seeker's legs in a hug. "Now you can save us like you saved those pillow people!"

Seeker looked down at the Toadstool in surprise as Myra and the Toadstools looked between the two of them in confusion.

"Matthew?" Myra repeated.

Seeker looked up, then gave a half-smile and shrugged. "My name isn't dangerous to say like Flare-Up's is, but I've gone with Seeker for so long it's sort of stuck." He knelt down and patted the Toadstool's mushroom cap. "Yeah, we're here to help, little guy. You and your friends stay down here while we take care of what's going on up on the surface, all right? We'll get your princess back in no time."

"Yay!"

The Toadstools started to cheer, only to get shushed by Seeker.

"There are pipes open; we don't want to be heard!" Seeker warned.

The Toadstools quieted down rather quickly.

"Let's get moving." Flare-Up looked at Crystal and Myra before looking over at Luigi. "We have a Zone to win back."

Luigi nodded, a determined expression in his eyes as his mustache quivered. "And-a my brother."


	11. Collapsed Castles

"How does Seeker – er, Matthew –"

"You can keep calling him Seeker." Flare-Up stepped out of the pipe, Myra following after her.

"How does Seeker know that Toadstool?" Myra looked at her in confusion as Crystal and Luigi climbed out of the pipe.

"He's come and helped before," Luigi explained. "He-a said Fawful was-a there when he shouldn't have-a been."

Myra blinked in confusion, only for her eyes to widen sharply when the pieces fell into place. "You mean he's a—"

Flare-Up clapped a hand over Myra's mouth, muffling the rest of what she was saying. "Yes, he is. Now keep it down – if  _they_  learn about it then we're all doomed."

Myra swallowed and nodded quickly, and Flare-Up removed her hand.

"We have a few people we need to find," Flare-Up said. "Luigi's brother, their sometimes-villain, and the rest of their allies. As a result of the World Collision, they are closer than they would normally be."

"Is it a lot of people?" Crystal asked. Her ears twitched and swiveled.

"That depends." Flare-Up looked over at Luigi. "Who's going to be closest, do you think?"

"Hmmmm." Luigi tiled his head to one side and put his hand on his chin. He straightened up and snapped his fingers a moment later. "This way!" He turned and ran up towards the collapsing palace on the other side of the courtyard.

Flare-Up bolted after him almost instantly, and Crystal and Myra followed a second later.

"Who could be in there?" Myra called out.

"Princess-a Peach!" Luigi called back.

"A  _princess?_ " Crystal repeated in surprise. "You're friends with an actual princess?"

"We're-a friends with  _three!"_  Luigi sounded quite proud as they reached the entrance of the palace. "Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina!"

"I didn't think I'd ever get to meet a real-life princess," Myra commented as they slowed down just inside the palace's entrance. A hole in the ceiling lit up the opening hall of the palace, but the rest of the area was dim and gray. "I mean, I'd heard that they existed once."

"Once?" Luigi looked at her in confusion. "You don't-a have a princess?"

"Umm…" Myra frowned, scratching her head. "I don't…think so? I can't really remember what my world was like before all this."

Flare-Up looked back and frowned. "You don't remember."

Myra shook her head.

"Then how did you know about Mako?"

"Huh?" Crystal blinked in confusion as Luigi tilted his head to one side.

"Mako?" Myra blinked. "Uh…that sounds familiar, but I don't—"

Something echoed in the hall – a footstep. The group of four turned their heads sharply in order to track the sound.

Luigi's knees knocked together, but then he straightened himself up and shook his head and muttered something under his breath. Myra wasn't able to figure out what it was that he said, but Flare-Up nodded in agreement with it.

The footsteps continued, slow and even, neither speeding up or slowing down. Myra wasn't sure what to make of them, but she knew they were making her feel uneasy somehow. The hairs on the back of her neck were sticking upright, and purple spurts of flame were shooting off the tips of her fingers.

"Something doesn't feel right," Myra murmured.

"We're on the same page," came Flare-Up's response. "Get ready."

A figure appeared at the edge of the sunbeam on the opposite end of the hall: a young woman with long, blond hair, and a pink dress that poofed out at the waist.

Her face had a horribly blank expression.

Luigi made a little, nervous sort of noise and moved from one foot to the other. Something about the situation was something he didn't seem to like.

Flare-Up muttered something under her breath, but it sounded like gears grinding together. Then she took a slight step back and clenched her right fist tightly. "Luigi, how strong is she?"

The woman in front of them clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, almost like she was praying.

"Strong!" Luigi yelped in reply.

The woman started to glow a dark purple color.

 _"Move!"_  Flare-Up barked. She pushed Crystal and Myra to the floor as Luigi leapt away with a noise that sounded like a duck quacking.

"What is—"

Myra cut herself off in alarm as a shockwave of purple energy lashed forward and hit the air where they had been a moment ago.

"Ghost-Type?" Crystal asked hesitantly.

"Dark and Ghost," Flare-Up muttered. She rose to her feet as fire started to appear on her arms. "We need to weaken her enough to get close enough to destroy that box on the back of her neck. Which means distractions – Crystal, you're with me. Myra, work with Luigi and deactivate the MindTech!"

Another shockwave lashed out at the same height as before, and Flare-Up leapt into the air in order to avoid it.

"Got it!" Crystal scrambled to her feet, hands sparking with bright yellow electricity. "Myra, move!"

Myra was already moving, crawling towards the outer edge of the room in order to get somewhere more safe. As soon as she had gotten behind a pillar, she rose to her feet and peered around right as another shockwave went off – this time at the height of everyone's feet.

Flare-Up jumped up in a  _backflip_ , avoiding the shockwave with ease. Something detached from her back, and she landed on a strip of red and orange metal that was hovering mid-air. She flew over to Luigi and caught him mid-air before he could so much as land, getting a yelp of surprise from the green-themed man as Crystal hovered in mid-air of her own power.

The woman dropped her hands from their praying position, but the purple aura stayed with her.

"I don't like this," Crystal said nervously. Her tail twitched back and forth agitatedly.

Flare-Up gave a low, dark hum that sounded metallic.

Myra looked between the woman and the others, then noticed something flare up in the woman's aura. "Everyone hide! Now!"

Crystal's head turned. "What are you—"

The aura  _exploded_  out from the woman, coating the room in dark purple energy that cause the entire palace hall to shudder. It flew past Myra as she stood in her hiding place behind the pillar, but it was close enough that it caused Myra to shudder, as well.

Something about the energy did  _not_  feel right.

The power faded, and Myra heard the sound of a grunt.

"Got the moveset; let's move in now before she does that again."

Myra looked around the pillar and stared with wide eyes as a bubble of fire faded from existence around Flare-Up, Luigi, and Crystal, who were staring at Flare-Up in awe.

Did she just  _protect_  them from the blast?

"Myra, move  _now!"_

Myra blinked at the sudden sharp bark from Flare-Up, and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise up before she instinctively jumped to the next pillar over.

Moments later, the pillar she had been standing behind was coated in flames spewed from some monster's mouth.

"Bowser," Flare-Up snarled, "is mine. The rest of you focus on Princess Peach!"

 _"Bowser?_ " Myra repeated in alarm.

Something slammed a large, scaly foot into the ground as a shadow-hidden head reared back; flames leaked out past large fangs. Chills ran down Myra's spine, and she started to step back and away from the creature.

The monster turned its head and unleashed a stream of flames.

"Flash Fire!"

Suddenly Flare-Up was between Myra and the monster, arms spread out as she took the flamethrower head-on. Myra was about to scream in alarm when she noticed that the fire wasn't  _harming_  Flare-Up – instead, the fire was being absorbed  _into_  Flare-Up.

"Myra, go!"

Myra jumped when she saw Flare-Up looking back at her.

"I can handle Bowser; you help the others."

The flames faded as Crystal yelped on the other side of the pillars, and Myra nodded quickly before turning and running out into the open area just as a shockwave went off high above her head.

Crystal flew downwards as Luigi leapt forward and kicked Peach in the stomach, sending her stumbling back a few feet with a grunt. The expression on her face didn't change, which only caused chills to run down Myra's spine.

"Myra, get close!" Crystal pointed at Peach. "We have one shot before she sets off that mass attack again!"

Another shockwave shot out – low this time. Myra jumped up in order to avoid it, then started running in order to get around behind Peach. Purple fire flicked at her fingers as she started to gather her power on instinct, the flames crawling up her arms as she started to pull it together.

There came a loud bellow from where Flare-Up was fighting against Bowser, and more flames shot into the open area before suddenly being sucked back.

"Charged Buster Shot!"

A large blast of yellow energy slammed into Bowser, sending electricity sparking in all directions and causing Bowser flying back a short distance.

At the same time the explosion went off, Myra screamed, "Mental Shock!"

The explosion of purple flames slammed into Peach before she could release another shock wave of dark energy. Peach cried out in pain as purple electricity sparked over her body; the dark aura dissipated as she collapsed.

Myra collapsed against a pillar and tried to catch her breath after the energy explosion. Crystal and Luigi looked between her and Peach as Bowser bellowed in the background and collapsed, causing the ground to shake.

Myra looked over as Flare-Up walked up to the monster boldly and grabbed something on the back of Bowser's neck. There was a spark of fire and a grunt from the monster, and Flare-Up pulled away from him a large black box.

The crunch of it being destroyed in her grip echoed in the palace.

"Oh! Right!" Crystal ran over to Peach as she started to stir. Her hands sparked with electricity as she grabbed something on the back of Peach's neck before ripping it away.

The black box, sparking with bright yellow-white electricity, was sent flying and crunched against a nearby pillar.

"Aah!" Peach jolted up in surprise as a hand went to the back of her neck. She looked around in confusion, looking at Crystal, Luigi, and Myra in turn. "Ooh, what just – Luigi!"

"Peach!" Luigi leapt in the air, then ran towards the woman and hugged her tightly. He promptly started bawling loudly.

Peach giggled weakly. "Oh, Luigi…" She looked around again. "But…where's Mario?"

Myra blinked in confusion. "Who?"

A low growl came from Bowser, causing the rest of them to turn sharply as he started to push himself slowly to his feet.

"If I see any of those horned freaks again I'm not holding back," he growled through his teeth. He looked down at Flare-Up and froze. "Like right—"

Flare-Up turned abruptly and exposed the back of her neck.

The fire died behind Bowser's teeth as he blinked in dumbfounded surprise. His eyes narrowed. "When did that happen?"

"That depends on your view of the flow of time," Flare-Up replied as Myra blinked in confusion. "For me it's been 75 years, but most of that was spent in stasis."

"And the rest?" Bowser growled.

"We're safe," Crystal said quickly. "We're with Aura Seeker."

"Matthew," Luigi supplied.

Peach's expression brightened as Bowser's bushy eyebrows shot up. "Oh! He's here?"

"Uh-huh!" Luigi slipped out of Peach's hug. "Follow me!" He turned and ran out of the palace. Peach quickly followed after him, a happy expression on her face.

Myra moved away from the pillar she had been leaning against, having managed to catch her breath. "Seeker knows them?"

Flare-Up looked over at her as Bowser snorted.

"Kid and his sister helped us out of a bind a while back," Bowser explained with a grunt. He started after them, each step causing the ground to shake a little bit. He stopped and looked back at Flare-Up with a scrutinizing gaze. "You look kinda like her, actually. That Liz kid."

Myra blinked in confusion as Flare-Up said blandly, "I'm Matthew's  _other_  sister. Don't say my real name if you know it, I'm going by Flare-Up for now."

Bowser eyed her, then shrugged then turned and walked out of the palace without another word. Crystal quickly followed after him.

"You…have a sister?" Myra looked at Flare-Up, who hadn't moved from where she had been standing.

"She isn't in this dimension," Flare-Up replied. "I haven't seen her since before the Collision." She started towards the entrance of the palace. Myra quickly followed after her.

_"The name's Liz. I'm here to help."_

Myra stumbled as the voice – a girl's voice – echoed in her head; she stopped and shook her head as Flare-Up looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I…" Myra put a hand to her forehead, trying to ignore the headache that was hitting her. "…I think I met her."

Flare-Up turned fully. "Where."

"I…I don't know – I-I think it's connected to the Mako thing that I can vaguely remember? I…I dunno." Myra shook her head. "I…I can't remember…."

Flare-Up walked over to Myra, her armor dropping back into her clothes. "Do you know Peach and Bowser from before?"

Myra shook her head. "I-I don't think so."

"Do you know someone named Cloud?"

Myra blinked at the name, then winced as something hit the back of her mind – a young man with a giant sword, yellow hair, blue eyes – and frowned and cocked her head to one side. "I…I think so? Maybe?"

Flare-Up's eyes narrowed as she looked away, putting her hands on her hips. "That world isn't a part of this…I would have—" She stopped, then looked back at Myra and clapped her hands on her shoulders. "You are as much a danger as you are  _in_ danger."

Myra stiffened at Flare-Up's words. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"You and I – we're the same. It should be impossible, but this scenario is impossible." Flare-Up paused. "Your powers are dormant now because you don't remember, but you have them. Something drew me to chose you as my partner here, rather than anyone else. And I know the reason now."

Myra swallowed. "What is it?"

"You're a World Jumper, too."


	12. Grim Discoveries

When Flare-Up and Myra came back to the hidden base in the sewers, Myra had a hollow look in her eyes at what she had learned from Flare-Up.

Myra.  _A World Jumper._  It was difficult to wrap her head around but there was something about it that felt so  _right._

But what was that going to mean for the future? What was going to happen when what the Dark Arms had done was fixed?  _How_  was it going to be fixed?

And what was going to happen to  _her?_

Peach went straight for Seeker and hugged him tightly. "I am relieved that you are all right!"

"And the same to you!" Seeker replied. He looked over at Bowser with a more serious expression as the Koopa lumbered past him. The two of them exchanged looks before Bowser looked away with a grunt. "You two were the only ones in the castle?"

"From what I can remember," Bowser grumbled as Peach let Seeker go. "Why?"

"Mario's somewhere up there. Same with Yoshi and Daisy and probably Rosalina, too, if she got involved in this from her galaxy. You haven't seen hide or hair of any of them?"

Peach shook her head. "No; Bowser had come to kidnap me again when—" She froze, then screamed and pulled back. "She showed up!"

Myra followed Peach's gaze and blinked in surprise when she saw Peach was pointing at Flare-Up. Flare-Up didn't look the least bit startled by the princess' reaction.

"What is she doing—"

"Flare-Up has got control of herself," Seeker replied. "It's okay. She's helping us get everything back to the way it's supposed to be."

Peach looked uncertain at that as Myra blinked in confusion. "Are you certain? I have heard she has played the part of someone who was still free in order to get others under their power before. What makes you think she isn't going to do that now?"

Myra blinked a couple times. Was Peach suggesting that Flare-Up was…?

She looked over at Flare-Up, as did the rest of the small group. Flare-Up noticed their gazes and chose to look at Captain America, then at Myra.

"What say you?" Flare-Up asked. "You were there when I was found."

"All I remember clearly is that you used up your energy getting it off my back," Captain America replied.

Myra started to nod in agreement, then paused. "There was—there was something on a computer about that stuff not working on you. I think it said it was…Project Reclaim? Something like that." She paused. "Wait.  _Reclaim?"_  She stared at Flare-Up with wide eyes.

"I had to get my immunity from somewhere." Flare-Up shrugged a little, her expression blank, but there was something in her eyes that flickered there for a moment. Myra tried to guess at what it was – anger? sadness? – but it was gone in a moment.

"But she's on our side now," Seeker said. "She's got her head back on her shoulders, and she's just as willing to take them down as the rest of us. You don't have to worry about anything, Peach; you can trust me on that."

Peach hesitated, then shook her head and retreated to the opposite end of the chamber. Luigi followed after her with a quick glance back at Flare-Up.

As the group drifted off, splitting up, Crystal moved closer to Flare-Up.

"Are you…gonna be okay?" Crystal asked.

Flare-Up looked over at her. "You don't need to worry about me. There are other things to be worried about."

Crystal hesitated, then nodded and moved away from Flare-Up.

Myra stated where she was. "Y-you…you were controlled  _by_  them? B-but you're the World Jumper!"

_"A_  World Jumper," Flare-Up corrected. She looked away from Myra and towards the pipe they had come out of. "We aren't as invincible as you seem to think we are. We never are."

"B-but –"

"There's no buts about it." Flare-Up looked at Myra. "I may be powerful, but there are some things that even I am not fully prepared to stand up against. Don't forget that."

Myra blinked. "Th-then…what about me?"

"You're still learning – or remembering, at least." Flare-Up paused. "I doubt that the Dark Arms are aware of your presence as one that matches mine. They weren't aware of my brother's true strengths, so I doubt they will come after you unless you've managed to remember something. All you can do for now is watch and attempt to remember everything that you can about the world you left behind. You will recover more of yourself that way."

"But what if the memories don't come back?"

"They will, given time. You have to be patient and wait for them to come back on their own." Flare-Up eyed Myra for a moment, then looked over at Seeker. "There are still others out there who need to be rescued."

"I agree, but we can't just rush out there when we don't know where to find them," Seeker replied. "You were lucky to find these two so close to us; I don't know where we would be able to find Yoshi or Daisy, much less  _Mario._  And trying to attract their attention might get us more problems than we're able to handle right now."

"I agree." Nightwing stepped forward. "The best thing we can do right now is scout out the area and see if we can free more of the locals. Then we can spread out from there. We don't know how large this Zone is compared to the Precursor Zone yet; we could end up being in one of the more compact areas for all we know."

"We aren't; the most compacted one is the Dark City Zone." Flare-Up nodded towards one of the walls. "Since it's multiple cities from multiple dimensions merged into one location."

Myra stared. "H-how do you know?"

"Considering they liked me so much, they had to make sure I knew where I was going. The fact that we  _need_  that data in order to fight back against them is the only thing that's keeping me from deleting it." Flare-Up tapped the side of her head. "The Mushroom Zone is the most expansive; the Hyrule and Cyber Zones are second and third. Then Dungeon, Maverick, Precursor, and Dark City in that order. Dark City is more than one World Zone, no doubt because the Marvel and DC universes are so close together in concept and world build. Otherwise there are seven World Zones in total that have been merged together."

Everyone in the temporary base started at Flare-Up with blank expressions.

Flare-Up inclined her head, taking the stares in stride. "If the Dark Arms come after me, it's more likely it is because of the information I have concerning their initial operations than because of my power. I was attached to their database and used as a backup before I was put on ice."

"…we're going to need that data." Nightwing motioned for Flare-Up to follow him to where Luthor and Brainiac were working on a computer tower, sequestered from the rest of the group.

"Whoa." Myra stared after the Reploid as she followed Nightwing. She looked over at Seeker. "Did you…did  _you_  know she had been controlled?"

Seeker paused at the question as noise around them ceased at Myra's voice.

"Kid, we all did." The man wearing the red and yellow armored suit came over to the two of them. "It's not exactly unnoticeable when someone like  _her_  is running around on a leash. It was avoiding her that was another problem." He shot Flare-Up a look, and she glanced back at them with an expression that sent chills down Myra's spine.

"Considering they used her to clear out the Dark City, I'm surprised you didn't put two and two together sooner," Seeker commented. "If you had been in the Dark City when all this started, at least."

Myra shook her head. "I-I was in the Hyrule Zone. I don't remember how I got there, though; I don't know anything about that place. After that I guess I was just…really, really lucky in avoiding getting caught. I'd been in the Dark City Zone for a really long time before…." She shrugged.

"Huh." Seeker raised an eyebrow. "That's…definitely not what I'd expected. Although, since you don't seem to remember what World Zone you came from, maybe the quakes that happened when the worlds merged together caused you to be thrown into another Zone and lose your memories in the process."

"You think so?" Myra frowned. Could she have been in one of the other universes that were collided together? Could she have been doing a World Jumping thing right then, and that's what caused her to lose everything?

"It could be; anything can happen in the Mulitverse." Seeker clapped a hand on her shoulder. "You just have a little more bad luck than average, I guess, but enough good luck to avoid a lot of the dangers we've had to deal with up until now."

"But what's that going to mean for the future, then? If you guys have more bad luck than I do, then—"

"It's going to balance out. But with my sister's good luck and determination, I think we'll be able to get through this without any problems." Seeker grinned.

Myra frowned. "The Dark Arms are looking for her, though, right? So things could end up being even worse for us if we aren't careful…"

Seeker's grin dropped. "You do have a point there. But no one here's as reckless as they used to be; they're going to have a difficult time finding us unless we make ourselves known in some form of a large battle. For now, we're going to have to lie low and strike when we can."

"We're also going to have to attract the attention of those who are MindTech'd presently, Seeker."

Myra and Seeker looked over as Flare-Up walked towards them.

"Because of the Mushroom Zone's size, we are going to be running around in open areas a lot more than I'd like," Flare-Up added. "There may not be Dark Arms here yet, but there are others who have been placed under their control and are hiding in certain areas. We're going to have to either go to them or get them to come to us. We were lucky that Bowser's and Peach's castles ended up merging in the Collision."

Seeker frowned. "Right. But going out now and going after them so quickly after finding Peach and Bowser could get us more attention than we'd like."

"I appreciate the fact that you're thinking, Seeker, but we don't have as much time as I think you'd like us to have."

Myra blinked. "What are you talking about?"

Flare-Up paused to consider the question. "There are…some things, about what the Dark Arms did, that are making me uneasy. I would like to get this reversed as quickly as possible so that they don't become permanent – or worse, the Time Barriers become even more unstable than they already are."

"What happens then?" Seeker's voice became hard.

There was a grim look in Flare-Up's eyes. "This entire portion of the Multiverse collapses, and takes all of us with it."


	13. Rescue Mission: The Plumber

Flare-Up's words hung over everyone else with a grimness that Myra didn't like the feeling of. It caused her to pace around the wall of the chamber they were in, small and cramped as it was, forcing others to move out of her way – except for Luthor and Brainiac, who she walked around because of their computer equipment.

A hand reached out of a shadow as Myra passed it, grabbing her shoulder, and Pitch stepped in front of her.

"And what do you think pacing is going to help?" He raised an eyebrow, looking down at her.

Myra pulled back sharply, startled by his appearance. "I-I don't know! I just…I just feel like I need to move, do  _something,_  but I don't want to go out there and get caught, either…." She trailed off, uncertain as she shifted from one foot to the other nervously. "It's just…we've got a time limit now? I'm not…I'm not sure what that's going to mean for us."

"You and Flare-Up have good heads on your shoulders; you'll figure something out." Pitch gave a sneering smile. "Although, your fear is most delicious."

"Pitch, don't pull a Darkrai!" Flare-Up called sharply as she came over.

Pitch pulled away. "I would never." His voice was smooth, but there was something else in it, too. Myra wasn't able to figure out what it was, because Pitch pulled into the shadows again and didn't say anything else.

Flare-Up looked at Myra. "You, Luigi and Seeker are heading out. They know the lay of the land here, and have some ideas concerning where the others might be found."

"Y-you're not coming with us?" Myra asked in surprise.

"Someone has to stay and make sure the base is well defended while the other is away." Flare-Up's gaze sharpened. "Seeker and I agreed to switch off on that position. He's waiting for you by the pipe."

Myra hesitated, then nodded and moved over to the pipe, where Seeker and Luigi were already standing.

"We're going to check out a few places we know to be old haunts for the people we're looking for," Seeker explained. "Are you ready?"

"I-I guess. Who are we looking for?"

"My brother," Luigi said. He adjusted the green cap on his head.

"And anyone else who would have allied with him," Seeker added. "Mostly, we're looking for Yoshi. If Daisy or Rosalina are mixed up in this, either we'll meet them along the way or another group can find them and rescue them when we come back. There's no guarantee that we'll be able to find them right away, if this area is the largest of the ones we could possibly run into out here." He slipped into the pipe, ducking his head a little as he called back, "Come on! We don't have all day!"

Luigi promptly jumped into the pipe after him, and Myra quickly followed.

The land above was just as they had left it when Myra, Flare-Up, Luigi, Crystal, Peach, and Bowser had dove down into the pipe moments ago. The fact that their caravan of trucks was still sitting right outside was something that made Myra nervous.

"Shouldn't we be…hiding these?" Myra quickened her pace as they moved out of the courtyard and through the mushroom-themed town that surrounded the castle. "I mean,  _they_ could notice that they're still out here."

"Flare and Luthor are working on an idea," Seeker replied. "They'll be gone by the time we get back."

Myra looked back at the circle of trucks as they disappeared from her sight behind a building. "If you say so…"

"You seem like a bit of a worry wart, Myra; relax." Seeker looked back at Myra. "Being nervous can help to keep you on your toes, but I think you're pushing the line at least a little."

Myra gulped. "S-sorry. It's just…this world looks so  _weird,_  it's hard  _not_  to be nervous."

Luigi frowned at her disapprovingly, causing Myra to duck her head.

"I can get that, but there are stranger worlds out there than this one," Seeker replied. "Trust me, there are just some things that I didn't quite believe when I saw them at first. You get used to it after a while, though."

Myra hesitated at that, then nodded a little. "I-if you say so. So, where are we going first?"

"Well, Yoshi's probably where the rest of his kind are usually found, which is usually an island." Seeker inclined his head in thought. "If Bowser's Castle and Peach's Castle ended up getting merged together, I wouldn't be surprised if Yoshi's Island ended up becoming merged with another part of the landscape. We're gonna have to find it first, though, and that might be a bit tricky, depending on how big this place is."

"So, we're going to be out here for a while?" They stepped out of the mushroom town, and Myra looked around nervously at the open plain they'd stepped onto. "Out in the open? I don't like this."

"I don't like it, either, but there are some things that we just can't avoid right now." Seeker looked over at Luigi. "Do you have a vague idea about Yoshi Island's location?"

"Hmmm." Luigi tapped his chin, then nodded. "It's this way!"

Luigi started to trek towards a rather dark-looking forest that was just off the path. Myra swore for a moment that she saw him hesitate before shaking his head and moving forward with his head held high.

Seeker shrugged and followed after him. "Come on, Myra. We don't have all day."

"R-right!"

The group stepped into the dark woods and were instantly in more shadows than the clouded sky usually left them in. Myra stayed as close to Seeker as she could in order to not to lose him as a result of the darkness.

"There must be something wrong with these woods," Seeker commented. "No forest in the Mushroom Kingdom can be this naturally dark."

"Ah…" Luigi looked back at them with a somewhat nervous expression. "That…depends. Are-a you talking about the one with-a Alien Shrooms still hiding in it or-a ones that are-a just overgrown jungles?"

"…There are Alien Shrooms still living in the Mushroom Kingdom," Seeker said flatly.

Luigi nodded. "Oh yeah."

"What are those?" Myra asked cautiously. "A-are we gonna run into them or—"

"I don't think so," Luigi replied quickly, the movement barely seen in the dark woods. Maybe a little too quickly, but Myra wasn't going to think on that now. "They-a don't like to interact with the rest of us very much. We won't find them."

"You saying that makes me think we will," Seeker muttered. "I'd rather not get Shroomified by one of those things."

" _What?"_  Myra let out a squeak of alarm.

"Don't worry about it, Myra; we've got other problems to worry about."

Luigi nodded quickly again. "Yeah! Come on – we still have to find Yoshi!"

They quickened their pace on the barely-seeable path, Myra keeping as close to Seeker as she possibly could in order not to lose him or Luigi. He didn't seem to mind it very much, so she kept doing it as they moved forward.

"S-so, what does Yoshi look like?" Myra asked. "Is he a human?"

"Yoshi's…." Seeker trailed off. "Well, he's not  _human,_  but he is a person. My family call him a dinosaur, but he's not really even  _that."_

"Yoshi is a Yoshi," Luigi said matter-of-factly.

Myra frowned. "That doesn't tell me a lot…."

Luigi shrugged.

"Yoshi are hard to explain," Seeker said. "If we see one, I'll make sure to point him out. Just watch out for a lizard-looking creature with a large head and maybe some spotted eggs bouncing behind him. It sounds weird, I know, but that's pretty much the only way I can describe it."

Myra's frown deepened, but she didn't try to press him for more answers. It was obvious she wasn't going to be able to get any from Seeker if he wasn't sure how to describe what a "Yoshi" looked like.

"…Do they all have the name "Yoshi'?"

"Well, it's the only word they can say, so it's really the only one that they answer to." Seeker shrugged. "The one we're looking for is green, if that helps."

Myra blinked. So they came in different colors, too. She hoped that Seeker and Luigi would know the one they were looking for on sight, at least.

The path they were following started to widen a little as gray light started to filter through the trees. Then they stepped into a large clearing with no trees above their heads and –

"That is not supposed to be here," Seeker said flatly.

Myra blinked a couple times, then frowned as she looked over the large, mechanical-looking building that took up about half of the already-large clearing. "What…what is it?"

"A factory is my guess. Whether or not it's one of Bowser's or someone else's remains to be seen." Seeker cracked his knuckles. "And it looks like it's still running, so we probably have to trash it in case the Dark Arms are using it."

"Do you think they could be using it to make – to make MindTech?" Myra asked. She swallowed nervously, not liking the idea that had just popped into her head.

"Maybe. We'll have to be on our guard if that is what they're using this place for." Seeker started towards the large, metal doors that were right front of the large metal building. "Come on, you two."

Luigi immediately started after Seeker, causing Myra to hesitate only for a moment before she was forced to run after them in order to keep up.

"I bet I can shut it down," Luigi commented as they came up in front of the doors. "Maybe we can use it."

"Maybe. We'll have to see what it is that's waiting for us inside." Seeker looked over at Myra, then back at the door and pulled back a fist. Bright blue fire suddenly covered his arm, and he slammed it forward.

The resulting loud  _CLANG!_  from his fist colliding with the metal caused Myra to jump back in surprise. Her eyes only widened when she saw that Seeker's fist had left a large dent in the doors, with a crack in the seam where the doors met.

Seeker slipped his hands into the cracks and started straining against the metal. There was a low creaking sound as the doors slowly opened under Seeker's hands.

"How did you  _do_  that?!" Myra looked between the dented door and Seeker. "Do you have some kind of fire power that…that makes you stronger?"

Seeker laughed. "Not quite. What you saw was actually my Aura."

"Aura?"

"My own life force, basically. It works like how your and my sister's power works." Seeker motioned to the open factory doors with his head. "I'd go over the specifics, but we've got a factory to investigate and not very much time to do it. Maybe I can fill you in on the details of my powers later."

Myra nodded as Seeker stepped through the thin entrance he'd made and into the factory interior. Luigi scrambled through after him, leaving Myra the last one to slip through and into the building.

She stopped short as soon as she got just inside the entrance.

"U-uh…" Myra gulped as she looked up. "Wh-what is that thing?"

"Looks like a mecha of some kind." Seeker put his hands on his hips as he looked up at the large, mechanical, human-looking thing that was standing in front of them. The painted-on outfit it had looked similar to Luigi's, except there was red instead of green. "There's something about the design of the overall thing that looks really familiar, but I can't quite place where I've—"

The dark eyes on the giant mecha suddenly lit up a bright, angry red, causing Myra to take a hesitant step back. Seeker instantly put up his fists as Luigi hesitantly did the same.

"I've fought things bigger than this." Seeker looked at Myra and Luigi. "Let's do this!"

The mecha started to move, slowly lifting up a large boot and slamming it down into the ground in front of them. A metal hand was raised, clenched, and brought down in a fist over the three of them.

Luigi and Myra shrieked as they scrambled out of the way; Seeker merely leapt to the side in order to avoid the attack, which left a large dent in the floor as the fist was raised.

"There's someone piloting this thing!" Seeker yelled as the fist started to come down again. He moved away from Myra and Luigi, and the fist followed, trying to come down on him as he leapt out from under it at the last second. "The cockpit is up in the head, right between the eyes!"

"I  _knew_ it!" Luigi looked up at the head with wide eyes as Myra's hands started sparking with purple flames. She didn't know what she could do right at this point, but if there was something she could do with her powers, she was going to take the opportunity as soon as she saw it. "I've seen this design before!"

"You have?" Myra looked over at Luigi in confusion, blinking at the fact that his voice had somehow lost its accent.

Luigi nodded quickly. "I….I've built something like that b-before. B-but it didn't look like this! It's gotta be—" He cut himself off with a shriek as another fist started to come down in their direction, and Myra and Luigi split in different directions as the fist came down in the floor.

"Less talking and more thinking!" Seeker called. "We need to find this thing's weakness and get through to the guy in the cockpit! Luigi, do you think you can get up there?"

"M-maybe?" Luigi squeaked. "This one looks a little better armored than mine was!"

"Everything's gotta have a weakness, right?" Myra responded. "Maybe it's that thing's eyes?"

"Do you think you can get an attack up there?" Seeker rolled to dodge another fist.

"I can try!" Myra's hands were covered in more purple flames, and she quickly melded them together into a sphere. The movement was a lot more fluid now.

The head of the mecha turned sharply to look at Myra, causing her to jump at the sudden movement. "U-uh—"

"Move it!" Luigi yelped as a fist came down at double the speed on their heads. They barely managed to get out of the way before it crashed down with enough force to cause the floor to buckle and bounce Luigi and Myra into the air. "That was close!"

It quickly turned into an improvised game of Whack-A-Mole, with the three humans scurrying around down below as the mecha continued to pound the ground in an attempt to squash them into a horrid, flat mess on the factory floor.

"I-I can't hit it running like—"

_Pew!_

Myra cut herself off in surprise as a bright blue, perfect sphere of energy suddenly shot up the arm of the mecha and slammed through the mecha's left eye.

"Someone get up there!" Seeker yelled. "I'll keep the mecha distracted down here. Climb up one of its arms as best you can!"

"Okey-dokey!" Luigi called back.

The ground shook as the mecha slammed a fist into the ground near them, and Luigi instantly started climbing up the metal fist and shimmying up the metal arm like he had been training for this moment his entire life.

Myra looked down at the sphere of fire she was still holding in her hands as Seeker turned his attention to the other fist, jumping back every time it landed and leaping forward again to dent it with Aura-covered fists before it moved up into the air again.

She looked back up at the face again, then poured more energy into the sphere in her hands as the arm Luigi was crawling up moved the fist above her head.

"Myra, move!" Seeker yelled.

"Eat this!" Myra threw the sphere of purple flames – now twice as big as her head – up at the face of the mecha as Luigi reached the metal thing's shoulder.

The flames connected with the face of the giant mechanical thing and exploded out over its nose. A good portion of it went in through the broken eye, causing the fist that was going to slam down on Myra to stop just long enough for her to notice it above her head and scramble out from under it as quickly as she could.

"Good shot," Seeker complimented as the fist he was pummeling started to spark. "What were you hoping to do with that?"

"I-I'm not sure?" Myra looked at the fist that hand landed on the floor next to her nervously. "Distract it?"

Neither one of the fists moved as Luigi scrambled around the neck of the mecha's head and reached the open eye socket with an acrobatic ease that Myra was sure she'd never be able to master.

"Well, it looks like you did something," Seeker acknowledged. He jumped up on the sparking fist and started to make his way up the arm. "Come on; we should get up there and back Luigi up."

Myra swallowed nervously, then nodded and started to climb up the other, still-intact fist. "Why were you attacking the mecha down here when you could have thrown another attack up there?"

"It's good to take out the weapons as well as the head of the thing," Seeker replied. "I've played a  _lot_  of video games where you have to weaken the thing before you can really destroy it; I know what I'm doing."

Myra frowned, wondering at Seeker's logic. "Video games?"

"Yeah. I guess that doesn't ring much of a bell, huh?" Seeker reached the mecha's shoulder moments before Myra reached it on the other side. He reached over, grabbed the lip of the eye that he'd smashed, then swung himself into the chamber that was inside the head.

Myra remained perched on her shoulder of the mecha, looking worriedly at the opening into the mecha as the light in the still-intact red eye flickered and died. She considered scrambling over like Luigi had, but making her way up the metal arm had been difficult. It was slippery and there hadn't been very many handholds, and she didn't want to end up falling off the mecha's chest and getting hurt.

She was starting to consider sliding back down the arm when a loud, bawling shout came from inside the head: "MARIO!"

"M-mama mia," groaned another voice.

Myra blinked in confusion. It  _sounded_  like Luigi's, but a little bit deeper.

The metal sculpted to look like an ear suddenly jolted outward, making Myra stiffen and grab onto the metal shoulder underneath her a little more tightly.

Seeker pushed the ear aside like a door and looked down. "Hey, Myra."

Myra looked up in confusion, but took his offered hand and let him pull her up into the chamber that was inside the head.

She blinked in confusion when she saw Luigi bawling over a rather portly man wearing a similar outfit to the one that had been painted onto the mecha. The rest of the chamber – aside from the minimal walking space between the "ears" and a chair in the middle – was filled wall-to-wall with machinery.

Something about it sent a chill down her spine, but she wasn't sure why.

"Luigi, Luigi, I'm okay." The man tapped one of Luigi's arms, tugging at the green sleeves a little.

"I-I know!" Luigi continued sobbing. "I-I-I'm s-s-so ha-ha-happy!"

The other chuckled weakly.

"Um…." Myra looked at Seeker in helpless confusion.

"That's Luigi's brother, Mario," Seeker explained. "The two of them are pretty famous around here as the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom. Just…give him a minute. Luigi will recover himself."

"But…Flare-Up said we didn't  _have_  time," Myra pointed out. "Don't we still have to find that Yoshi guy you were telling me about?"

"Yoshi?" Mario turned his head to look over at them, confused for a moment before recognition sparked his eyes. "Ah! He is down here!" He rapped a hand against the metal floor below him.

Luigi stopped bawling and sniffed loudly. "H-he is?"

"Mm!" Mario nodded and rose to his feet before jumping up and slamming down into the metal. The square under his feet suddenly gave out, and Mario jumped  _in mid-air_  in order to prevent himself from falling down into the hole. "He's-a just been running down there – Yoshi!"

Something clanked below them, and a green head came up, a glazed expression in the eyes. Seeker was behind him in an instant, hands glowing with a blue fire that he slammed into the back of the creature's neck.

The creature – Yoshi – froze as something sparked on the back of his neck, and he would have fallen back in except that Luigi and Mario grabbed him and pulled him up out of the hole with little effort.

"Now that we've got that settled, we'd better get back to base," Seeker said. "Finding you was a lot easier than I'd been expecting it to be, Mario, but I'm glad we managed to find you when we did."

"I'm-a glad, too," Mario said, nodding. He looked over at Myra. "And who is this?"

"I-I'm Myra," Myra replied. "Um…nice to meet you?"

Mario smiled brightly, his expression making Myra want to giggle a little at the smile and mustache combination. "Nice to meet you! Thank you for helping Seeker!"

"Come on; we've got a lot to fill you in on." Seeker started for the open door. "A lot's happened since we got involved in this mess, and you're definitely going to want to know what's what."

"Mm! Let's-a go!"

Luigi promptly started bawling again.


	14. Moving Again

When the group arrived back in the base, Peach instantly grabbed Mario up in a hug and kissed him repeatedly on the nose.

"Nice job bringing him back." Flare-Up came over as Myra moved away from Peach, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi as the Toadstools gathered around them with bright, happy expressions. "Now that Mario is here, we can leave the rest to them and move on to the next World Zone."

Myra's eyes widened in alarm. "Y-you mean, we aren't  _staying?"_

"If we do, there's a higher chance that the Dark Arms could find us than I'd like," Flare-Up replied evenly. "They may not have the ability to track us using my name now, but that doesn't mean that's going to stop them completely. We have to keep moving and winning back areas. The Maverick Zone is the next closest; we'll be heading there next."

"I can't wait to see the look on Sigma's face when he finds out we're back in town," Zero said from nearby with a wide grin.

"He sold out his own team to the Dark Arms," X pointed out with a frown. "I doubt that things are going to be as easy there as they have been so far."

"Maverick Zone?" Myra repeated. "You mean…you mean you guys came from  _that_  metal place? The one with all the machines and things running all over the place like they're ready to cut each other's heads off?"

Zero's smile dropped. "It's that bad now, huh?"

"You've been there?" Flare-Up raised an eyebrow at Myra.

Myra nodded a little. "Yeah, but not for very long – they wanted to knock my head, off, so I just p-passed through it and went into the Dark City Zone before they could have a chance to grab me."

"Smart move." Zero nodded.

"Her destination was not such a smart one," Flare-Up pointed out.

Zero rolled his eyes. "I know that. At least the kid made a smart decision to get out of there alive." He looked over at Myra. "We're planning on getting out of here soon and leave this place to the Toadies. If you want to say good-bye, you'd better do it now."

"B-but this is too fast! A-aren't there other people we can help here or—"

"We've done all we can."

Myra looked over at Flare-Up, her protest dying in her mouth.

"We don't need to be here to see everything succeed; we just need to be here in order to get them started," Flare-Up said evenly. "Mario and the others have handled invasions on their own before; so long as they know what they are up against and what they can do in order to reverse it, they won't be caught off-guard again. We'll be leaving them this base with a way to contact us in case they absolutely need it, but other than that, they'll be saving their world on their own." She paused. "And believe me, it's better off if they do things this way."

Myra blinked at Flare-Up's words, letting them sink in a little. Then she frowned. "Does that…is that what you did? With the worlds you helped?"

Flare-Up paused at the question.

Zero snorted. "She can get to be pretty involved, kid. I bet she still wants to stick around and help things settle down."

"But with the amount of time that we have, that's impossible," Flare-Up shot back. "Defeating the Dark Arms is something that has to happen before the different dimensions can settle down without any fear of them hanging over their heads."

"But we can't just leave them without anything that could help fight back against—"

"Bowser has access to flamethrowers and the Mario brothers can get extremely creative after years of keeping their kingdom safe." Flare-Up gave Myra a hard look. "I have faith in them." She looked over at X and Zero. "We'll be moving out shortly. Make sure you have everything you need; I'm going to need all the backup I can get in the Maverick Zone."

The two nodded, then moved off to another section of the chamber.

"S-so—" Myra swallowed. "So, we're gonna be leaving them alone, then?"

"We can come back here at any time, if they need us. Otherwise, we have other World Zones to gain a foothold in." Flare-Up paused, her eyes moving elsewhere for a moment. Then she asked in a more quiet voice, "Do you know anything about robotics?"

Myra blinked. "Robotics? You mean, like what you are?" She shook her head. "I-I don't remember anything that has anything to do with that. At least, not yet." She frowned. "Why do you ask?"

Flare-Up frowned, then shook her head. "The Maverick Zone has more people like me in it, but there are dangers there as well. They're going to be more willing to kill and have more technology at their disposal to be able to do so." She looked at Myra. "You don't have enough control over your own abilities yet; I would ask you to come with us and use your Spark attack to momentarily stun anyone who came against us, but it tires you too quickly."

"So…I'm gonna be sitting this one out?" Myra asked.

"Yes and no. I'm sending Seeker on ahead to the Dungeon Zone to start gaining a foothold there. To reach that Zone, you're going to have to cross through the Maverick Zone." Flare-Up paused. "You're going with him. I'll catch up with you later."

Myra's eyes widened sharply. "What? But you said I'd be working as your partner, not—"

"I know what I said, but this situation is going to be more dangerous for you than it is for me. I can be repaired in minutes or hours; it would take days or weeks for you to be back in fighting shape if you take a hit from a Maverick, and I don't intend to let anyone fall at this stage."

Myra blinked at that. There was a grimness in Flare-Up's eyes that made her feel like she was stepping into something bigger than she was prepared for. She swallowed and nodded. "Okay. What's gonna happen, then? What's in the Dungeon Zone?"

"Seeker can fill you in when you get there, but I can assure you that the natives there aren't robotic by any means." Flare-Up paused. "As for what is going to happen, we are going to split up into two teams. You and Seeker will go on ahead with most of the organic members of our group. X, Zero, and I will lead the others into the Maverick Zone to look for a place to set up a base while taking out anyone we can. I'll catch up with you when the Hunters have managed to establish a base they can start fighting back from."

Myra blinked at that, swallowed, then nodded slowly. "Okay. I…I guess that makes sense. Do you want me to wish you good luck now or—"

"Wait until we get into the Maverick Zone for that." Flare-Up looked across the chamber to where Seeker was standing with the Mushroom Zone's natives. "But we are going to need every last ounce of it that we can get. That much I can guarantee."


	15. Airam

The drive to the border was a little different this time. Myra found her sitting next to Seeker in the Cybertronian named Jazz, instead of in one of the trucks. Nightwing was with them.

"I don't like the idea of splitting up the team." Nightwing looked back at Seeker and Myra with a dark expression, brow furrowed. "You'd better hope she knows what she's doing."

"Flare's been to the Maverick Zone twice before," Seeker replied evenly. "Once before X and Zero were created, and once when they were active. She'll know what she's doing in there."

Nightwing frowned at that.

"How many worlds has she been to already?" Myra asked.

"Out of the ones that are involved here?" Seeker inclined his head. "Most of them, actually. None of us have been to the Precursor Zone before, and she didn't travel to the Hyrule Zone or Mushroom Zone, but I know the layouts for both dimensions. Otherwise, the rest of them are familiar territory to her."

"So she  _doesn't_  know everybody, then." Myra nodded. "Okay; I was…kinda wondering about that. Because it feels like everybody knows about Flare-Up."

"Word tends to spread fast." Seeker shrugged.

"Especially considerin' where she was for quite a while there," Jazz added. Myra jumped at his voice; she hadn't completely gotten used to the fact that he could talk in his vehicle mode yet. It didn't help that he didn't speak very much, either. "She was kinda seen all over the place, if ya know what I mean."

"Unfortunately," Seeker muttered.

Myra nodded a little. "S-so, you knew her, too."

"Yup! Not for very long, though – kid was kinda here and gone. OP got ta know her pretty well, though. Matt too – by the way, man, I didn't get ta tell ya earlier, but I love what yer doin' with yer digs."

"Came with the territory of working with the Bat," Seeker replied.

There came a crackle of static from Jazz's dash.  _::We're coming up on the Time Barrier. Everyone keep your talismans close::_

"Thanks for the heads up, sis," Seeker replied. He looked out the window at the wrinkled, leafless trees that lined the cobblestone road. Myra did the same on her side, trying to see around the giant semi truck cab that was the vehicle form of Optimus Prime, who was even more reserved than the rest of the Cybertronians.

Something about them made Myra feel nervous for some reason, so she stayed away from them for the most part.

There was a flicker of pink on the horizon, and Myra's eyes widened when she saw that the Time Barrier came into existence where grass and cobblestone ended and where metal ground began. Tall, crumbling towers could be seen in the distance; some of them were burning.

Someone muttered something over the comms, and Zero's voice came through clearly.  _::We've got a lot of work ahead of us. We're going to have to find a place to set up camp quickly if we're going to be able to do anything::_

 _::You're sure that you kids will be okay without the rest of us?::_  spoke up a man's voice – Tony Stark, or Iron Man, Myra reminded herself. Another one of the people who seemed to know Flare-Up personally.  _::This one's even worse than the other ones::_

 _::We're used to it::_  Zero replied.  _::We'll be fine without anyone else breathing down our backs::_

 _::As much as I hate to admit it, Zero's right::_  X spoke up.  _::We've seen more war in our dimension than peace. Our world made its own mistakes causing this to happen, and we're not about to have any more than we need attempting to help us fix what's gone wrong::_

Myra frowned at that. She looked over at Seeker, who shook his head slightly.

"X is a kind-hearted Reploid, under his war-torn façade," Seeker said. "He doesn't want anyone else getting hurt fixing the mess his dimension's in. He and Flare-Up just have different ways of saying it."

Myra blinked, then nodded.

 _::Plan's still in effect::_  Flare-Up said over the comms.  _::As soon as we pass the barrier, we split in two, and the rest of you go on ahead to the Dungeon Zone. We might follow after you to make sure you get through safely, with minimal damage, but I won't be following after you until I am sure X and Zero will be able to win their zone back on their own::_

"We hear ya, sis," Seeker replied. "Good luck in there; it looks like even worse of a war zone than the Dark City was at the start."

There was silence for a moment.  _::Thanks, Matt. Keep your guard up. And the same to you, Myra::_

"Yeah." Myra nodded quickly in response.

_::Hitting Time Barrier in three, two—::_

Flare-Up's voice was cut off with a crackle of static as Optimus Prime hit the barrier. Myra quickly reached for the purple crystal under her shirt and gripped it tightly as Jazz followed suit.

The tingling sensation this time wasn't as sharp as it had been the last few times, but that didn't stop the chill from running down Myra's spine as they shot out of the Time Barrier and were instantly hit with the sound of screams and explosions.

"Dang!" Jazz swerved as an energy blast shot out from behind a toppled building, nearly hitting him in the side. "Almost feels like we're back in the early days!"

_::SPLIT!::_

Myra winced back at Flare-Up's barking tone, and she saw a red and orange blur shoot out from Optimus' truck cab. Two more blurs followed after the first and disappeared into the maze of metal buildings.

"Good luck," Myra murmured quietly.

"They'll keep an eye on us as we're heading to the Dungeon Zone," Seeker commented. "There's no way that a place like this is a good one to be alone in for long." He frowned, brow furrowed. "I wonder if this is what Reverse Cybertron looked like when she visited there…"

Something about that name sent a chill down Myra's spine, but she wasn't sure why. "R-reverse Cybertron?"

"What kinda name is that?" Jazz asked with a disapproving tone.

"Hey, it fit from what I saw. It's a Cybertron where you guys are the bad guys and the Decepticons are the good guys. My sister went there once with one of our neighbors." Seeker paused, then looked at Myra with an odd expression. "Actually, she said that there was a version of her who had needed her help."

"Really?" Myra blinked.

"Yeah. And from what Flare told us when she got back, her counterpart actually sounded a lot like—"

A sudden explosion went off up ahead.

"Whoa!" Jazz yelped as he slammed on the breaks, causing Myra to jolt forward a little. "What in Primus just—"

A loud, crazed cackle suddenly swept over them from outside the cab, sending chills down Myra's spine at the sound. It sounded like  _her_  voice, but…twisted. Changed.

"Wh-what was that?" Myra asked.

Seeker's eyes flashed. "It sounded like a counterpart – but that can't be right. Flare-Up said she didn't have any in the Neo-Earth dimension."

"A…a counterpart?"

"Someone like you who lives in another dimension," Nightwing replied. "It doesn't have to be your own." He unbuckled and started attempting to get the door open. "Jazz, we're going to need to get out to take care of this roadblock."

"An' what about Flare-Up handlin' the problem, huh?" Jazz responded.

"She's not going to be able to handle it too well if it's another version of her and they both know each other's moves."

There was silence in the cab for a moment, and then the doors popped open.

"Get movin' before I change my mind."

Nightwing and Seeker were already out of the car by the time Jazz finished speaking, and both of them took off towards the front of the caravan as another explosion rocked the road in front of them.

Myra hesitated.

"Go on, kid; they're gonna need backup."

Myra blinked at Jazz's words, then nodded and slipped out of the backseat before running after Seeker and Nightwing up past Optimus Prime.

The road in front of their caravan had been blasted to pieces, leaving a large hole in the ground that stretched over into the nearby collapsed buildings. If there had been any chance of making their way through this area, it was long gone.

The cause of the explosion, however, was  _not_  long gone.

Myra came to a stop behind Seeker and Nightwing and looked up at the figure that was hovering above their heads and over the giant hole in the road. She had armor, like Flare-Up's, but it was various shades of purple instead of red, orange, and gray, and there was a mocking sneer on her face instead of the more serious expression that Flare-Up usually had.

On top of that, she had black hair and purple eyes  _just like Myra._

Myra swallowed. There was something about her that felt horribly wrong, and she didn't like it.

The figure in purple threw back her head and let out another loud cackle. "This must be my lucky day! I didn't think that there were any more free people wandering around out here!" She grinned a little too widely for a normal human to grin. "The Dark Arms will be pleased."

Myra took a step back nervously as Seeker brought up his fists.

"Who are you?" Seeker asked coldly. "Your aura feels wrong."

The grin on the teenage girl's face dropped. "Well, that's a rude way to say hello. Why don't you try that again?"

The girl suddenly covered herself from head to foot in purple flames, then thrust her arms forward and sent down twin flamethrowers.

On instinct, Myra dashed forward and held up her hands, which sparked with purple embers of their own as Seeker and Nightwing quickly moved out of the way.

"Myra –"

Seeker's yell of surprise was cut off on its own accord when the flames stopped at Myra's hands, then became thin tendrils that wound up her arms and faded out of view.

Myra jolted when she felt that she was becoming more alert. The flames weren't  _hurting_  her, they were giving her more  _energy._

The other girl's eyes widened at the sight and pulled back, stopping the stream of flames. "What is this?"

Myra dropped her arms as she absorbed the last of the purple flames and looked down at her hands in surprise. "Wh-what just – what just happened?"

"Who are you?" Seeker was glaring up at the figure in purple as Myra looked up at his demand.

The girl recovered from her surprise quickly and sneered at the three standing below her. "I don't see why I should answer that, you little—"

A blast of orange-red flames suddenly shot out from between two collapsed buildings, and Flare-Up shot out a moment later, riding a board of metal that was painted in the same color scheme as her armor.

The purple girl dropped below the flames, then rose up again and grinned widely at Flare-Up. "Ah,  _there_  you are. The masters are mad that you're ruining everything, you know."

Flare-Up activated her Buster and aimed it at the other armored girl. "What are you doing here."

"Looking for you. You don't realize how difficult it is to be able to keep tabs on the masters' most powerful weapon – the lower castes are having a lot of trouble keeping tabs on their little minions now that you've started cutting through their ranks. And they can't even find the source of the trouble in the Precursor Zone!" The purple girl winked. "I bet you know where I could find those little troublemakers, hmm?"

"I'm not telling you anything," Flare-Up replied flatly. "Especially after they created you,  _Airam._ "

Myra blinked in confusion. What kind of name was Airam?

Seeker sucked in a breath through his teeth.

"Airam?" Nightwing muttered. "Hm. Creative."

"So you know about me." Airam's smile wavered a little. "That makes introductions a little bit easier, then." The smile dropped completely. "I'm taking you back in. And that one, too." She pointed down towards Myra, who looked up in alarm. "I came here because of another little runaway, but I think that catching you two will appease the masters quite nicely." The grin came back, more crazed. "But you don't want to come quietly, do you?"

Flare-Up didn't verbally respond. Instead, she leveled her Buster at Airam and fired a shot of energy as large as her upper body. It was at such close range that Airam had no time to dodge, and was sent flying back into a nearby building.

A low rumble and a loud crash moments later heralded the entire building collapsing on top of the other armored girl.

"You need to get away from here and my counterpart as quickly as you can!" Flare-Up called down to the others. "I'll keep her off your backs as best I can, but you  _have_  to keep moving forward!"

"She said something about looking for someone else!" Seeker called back. "It's probably someone who doesn't belong in this area already, or maybe someone important from around here – keep an eye out for someone like that!"

"Understood! Now get out of here before the Dark Arms send anyone else besides my evil double!" With that, Flare-Up took off for the collapsed building that had fallen on top of Airam.

Myra looked down at the hole in the ground in front of them. "S-so, what now? We can't drive over that, can we?"

"You forget who it is that's been doing the driving," Seeker replied with a confident smirk. He looked back at Optimus. "All right. Looks like we'll have to walk from here if we're gonna be able to make it to our next stop. We're gonna need everybody out!"

There was a moment's pause, and then all the doors and cockpits on the Cybertronians opened up, causing the group to spill out into the street.

"What's the big idea?!" Tony Stark yelled as he stepped out of Sunstreaker.

"Someone blasted the road!" Nightwing called back. "We're going to need the Cybertronians to transform and carry us across, or else we're going to need another route. On top of that, it seems the Dark Arms have a reversed personality version of Flare-Up running around in the Maverick Zone, so we're going to have to be careful and watch our backs."

Tony huffed and folded his arms across his chest. "Well, that's just great."

"Reversed?" Myra blinked, then frowned. "If that's the case, then wouldn't she have thrown ice at us?"

"Reversed doesn't mean that the powers will be switched too, but that's a good catch," Seeker replied. As Optimus' truck form started to shift and move up into a humanoid-ish, giant form, he raised his voice over the sound of shifting parts. "Nightwing was referring to the difference in personality between Flare-Up and Airam, since Airam is more willing to work for the Dark Arms than Flare-Up was."

"More willing?"

"You didn't notice?" Nightwing frowned at Myra. "She doesn't have any MindTech on her."

Myra's eyes widened sharply at that, so startled with this piece of news that she jumped out of surprise when a large metal hand was placed on the ground next to them, palm up.

"We must hurry," Optimus rumbled. "I do not doubt that this agent will be looking for openings to cause us to lose what ground we have gained."

Seeker nodded and stepped on, then looked back and motioned for Myra to join him as Nightwing stepped onto Optimus' other hand.

"We don't have time to stand around and talk about counterparts," Seeker said.

Myra nodded and scrambled onto Optimus' large metal hand right before the Cybertronian rose to his full height, curling his fingers in a little. Myra squeaked at the sudden movement and held onto the solid thing that happened to be closest.

"…well, this is awkward," Seeker commented, looking down.

Myra looked up, eyes widening sharply when she realized she was hugging him for dear life. "U-uh—"

"No, no, it's fine – it just feels like one of my sisters is hugging me, that's all."

The hand jolted underneath them, causing Myra to hold on even more tightly as Seeker held onto the tip of Optimus' thumb. She didn't dare look down as they started moving forward, the hand bouncing a little with each step Optimus took.

"You don't need to hold on so tightly!"

Myra winced at Seeker's voice, then relaxed her grip on his middle a little, looking up with an apologetic expression.

"…yeah, you definitely remind me of Flare-Up and our little sister," Seeker decided. "We're over the hole in the road now, but the road still looks a little rough up ahead, so we'll be going forward like this for a bit."

Myra blinked, latching onto the first thing that sounded like a distraction. "You have  _another_  sister? What's she like?"

"Hard-headed and pretty stubborn – which is ironic, since she can control water – and she's supposed to be two years younger than Flare-Up." He paused. "You know, I'm actually not sure whether you remind me of her or of Flare-Up. It's been a while since I saw everyone back home."

"You mean…." Myra frowned. "How was Flare-Up before the World Collision?"

Seeker's pondering expression lost the wistful smile that had been slowly crossing his face. "She was…different. A lot more open with her emotions, and definitely more open for anything that resembled an adventure." He chuckled, but the sound was melancholy. "She was also pretty reckless, but I don't think that's changed. She's just…thinking a little more before she dives in."

Myra frowned. Something about the descriptions sounded familiar, but she wasn't entirely sure what it was that struck a chord in her.

_"You act a lot like my sister does. Seriously, when's the last time you thought before you dove into a fight like that?"_

Myra's frown deepened. "I…I think someone said I was like that, once. But I don't feel like that now, that's for sure!"

"The World Collision does that to people," Seeker replied dryly.

Myra felt another pair of eyes on her and looked up, meeting Optimus' optics as he eyed the two of them curiously.

"I'm sure a part of it is because you don't have your memories," Seeker added. "Flare-Up had an incident where that happened. She got everything back, though, and she definitely came back from it a little wiser." He paused, then snorted. "I think it's where her reckless streak came from, actually."

An explosion went off somewhere behind them, causing Myra to stiffen up. Flare-Up's roaring yell followed on the heels of the noise, sounding determined and furious.

"Losing your memories might have made you more skittish," Seeker commented. "It could happen to anyone; don't worry. I'm sure everything will settle when you've got your memories back and we've taken care of the Dark Arms for good.

"I…." Myra paused. Should she tell Seeker? He was Flare-Up's brother, after all; it would make sense that he would know about what she and Flare-Up knew already. "Flare-Up thinks I'm a World Jumper, too. Because the world I'm probably supposed to come from isn't here."

Optimus' hand shifted under them a little as they moved away from the sharp edge of a skyscraper that looked like it had been slashed through.

"Really?" Seeker's voice sounded more serious. "If your world isn't here, then what is it?"

"I-I'm not…sure? I mean, I remember there's stuff like Mako there and I think I met someone who knows you there—"

"Mako? Then that means—" Seeker cut himself off. "You met our sister. You met our  _parents."_

"What?" Myra looked up at Seeker in confusion. "Your parents came from my world too?"

"No; they went to your world, and Liz went at the same time but later in our dimension than in yours." Seeker saw the confusion on Myra's face only increase, and he shrugged in response. "It's confusing, I know, but time and space are pretty relative in the Multiverse. It's why the World Zones aren't merging together well – they have different time flows between them. If you're a World Jumper too, then that means you're used to passing between dimensions and can handle the Time Barriers better than everyone else."

"I  _can?"_  Myra wasn't sure if she should believe what she was hearing.

Seeker winked. "Yup. It's what I've been doing the entire time that I've been mixed up in this mess, because I'm a World Jumper myself. It runs in our family for some reason."

Myra's jaw dropped. "I-it what? But how can that—"

"Time Barrier up ahead!" Nightwing called over from Optimus' other hand. "Get ready; it looks like Flare-Up's counterpart is trying to follow us here!"

"Zihihihihihihi!"

Myra's head whipped around at the sound of the crazed cackle, and her eyes widened sharply as a purple blur shot past them, with Flare-Up's red-orange blur close behind.

"You may be good, but you can't best me!" Airam taunted as she swung around in front of the caravan. "Not with your pesky little connections! Break them off and see what sorts of havoc you can cause then!"

Flare-Up snarled in reply and started to ram into Airam, but swung out of the way when the purple-armored lookalike shot of a blast of purple flames.

Myra held out a hand on instinct, and a portion of the flames were sucked up her arm, giving her another energy boost as Seeker stiffened a little out of surprise.

Airam and Flare-Up didn't notice Myra's reaction to the purple flames, as Airam was still cackling at Flare-Up as she tried to shoot the other out of the sky and failed.

 _"Dummkopf!"_  Flare-Up barked.  _"Keine laufen!"_

Airam cackled even louder. "Do you really think that dead language is going to work on me? I don't think so!"

"What is she talking about?" Myra asked, suddenly feeling nervous. "It feels like someone just dumped a bucket of ice water down the back of my neck."

"Use your Flash Fire!" Seeker called.

"Can't!" Flare-Up's response was clipped. "This fire isn't the type I can absorb; it's something else."

"How is  _that_  possible?"

Airam cackled even more loudly and threw another swath of purple flames in a shockwave – this time towards Optimus and the humans he was carrying.

Myra let go of Seeker and turned to face the oncoming onslaught of fire, putting her hands out. "Flash Fire!"

The purple flames reacted immediately, attracted to Myra's body like a magnet, and were sucked up her arms and into her shoulders, leaving little purple-white aftersparks. The attack itself never hit Nightwing or Optimus.

Myra stood a little straighter, once again another girl's voice echoing at the back of her mind.

_"H-how did you do that? That wasn't normal fire! You shouldn't have been able to absorb it like that!"_

_"What are you talking about? My fire isn't normal either – it's an attack of the mind. That stuff is, too; I'm just getting my energy back."_

Flare-Up looked over at Myra for a second, an uncertain frown on her face, then looked back at Airam as the purple-armored evil double stared at Myra in shock.

Flare-Up leveled her energy cannon. "Charged Stun Shot!"

The resulting bright yellow blast sent Airam flying back into another building close to the Time Barrier, causing it to collapse, burying Airam a second time.

"Go!" Flare-Up motioned for Optimus to step through the Time Barrier. "I can handle things from here – you rescue the Dungeon Zone!"

"Watch your back!" Seeker warned. "And get back with us as soon as you can!"

Fare-Up gave a curt nod, then turned and took off in another direction as Optimus started to move forward at a much quicker pace.

Myra stood her ground despite the fact that Optimus was moving more quickly, and despite the fact that she was no longer hugging Seeker for dear life.

Then they hit the barrier, and when they passed through it this time, Myra didn't feel that tingling sensation in her limbs.

Mostly because her attention was on the small collection of abandoned buildings in front of a large forest.


	16. Dungeon Zone

Seeker didn't want to set up camp in the small abandoned town that they'd come across.

"We're too out in the open." He motioned to the Time Barrier that was mere steps away from the front of a building with a red roof and busted-in doors. "Airam could very easily come through the Time Barrier and come after us, and summon who knows how many Dark Arms down on our heads as a result. We're going to have to go in deeper into the World Zone before I'd feel comfortable setting up a base."

"Oldale Town was never this close to the Petalburg Woods."

Everyone turned and looked at Crystal, who ducked her head at the stares she was getting.

"I-I mean, there's supposed to be another town with a Gym and a coastline between here and—"

"Is this your home zone, Crystal?" Myra asked in surprise.

Crystal looked over at Myra and nodded. "Y-yeah. This is my home, but…not like this. Everything's all wrong."

"If this is your world, then it's going to be different from what I originally thought it was going to be." Seeker frowned, folding his arms across his chest. "At least that explains why Sonic and the others aren't involved in this."

"Who?"

Seeker shook his head at Crystal's confused expression. "Don't worry about them; they aren't here, so they were able to stay out of this. What I'm worried about is who we've got to go after in order to win this Zone back."

Crystal gulped. "U-um…do you know about a Pokémon called Mewtwo?"

Myra blinked. "Didn't you say that was your brother or something?"

Seeker groaned and dragged a hand down his face.

"How bad's this cat-two thing?" Tony Stark folded his arms across his chest and frowned.

"A mafia organization created Mewtwo to be a genetic weapon," Seeker replied. "They were planning on using him to take over the world."

Myra gulped.

"But, his attacks are mainly psychic in nature." Seeker looked over at Myra. "We might be needing your help in order to take him out, if your mind can stand an assault like what he could dish out."

"Mythos is mine." Crystal stepped forward and frowned at Seeker. "I know his moves and his limits, and I'm not limited by what he is. I can take him."

"What if there are any Mew in the area?" Seeker argued.

Crystal hesitated, then shook her head. "Rosa and Catzin are too smart to let themselves be caught. They're okay. They have to be."

"We'll have to see." Nightwing looked around at the open clearing right in front of the forest. "You are right, Seeker; we're too open here. We're going to need somewhere more hidden."

"If you are intending to enter the forest, I doubt that we will be able to follow," Optimus said from where he stood towering over the rest of them.

"Agreed," Megatron said in his rasping voice. "I suggest we remain here until the World Jumper has decided it is time to catch up with the rest of us, then find a way around to reach our Zone."

"You'll be leaving yourself vulnerable for if and when the Dark Arms decide to strike," Captain America argued instantly.

"In case you haven't noticed, fleshbag, it's a little more difficult for us to conceal ourselves." Starscream leaned down and sneered at the humans gathered below, causing those near his feet to back up a few steps. "We would be attracting their attention to all of us regardless of whether or not we stayed or went!"

Megatron shot Starscream a dark look as the silver mech with wings straightened himself up. "Yes. And I do not intend to insure that we are to lose every chance of finding a way to not only stop these pesky creatures, but also separate our dimensions. Go ahead without us; we will cover your tracks and give the Dark Arms a merry chase across the World Zones." He grinned widely, showing more sharp teeth than Myra thought was possible to fit into a mouth.

Seeker inclined his head at that, then nodded. "All right. Everybody except for the Cybertronians into the woods. We'll find a hiding place in there and plot how we're going to return everything back to the way it's supposed to be. The Cybertronians will watch our backs and keep an eye out for when Flare-Up follows after us; either she'll come straight to us or leave this World Zone and help the Cybertronians in the Cyber Zone. Let's go."

Seeker turned and started into the forest, Nightwing falling into step next to him. Myra was quick to follow, Crystal right on her heels as the rest of the human-sized group split into groups of twos and threes.

"There's something I should tell you about the Dungeon Zone," Crystal said as they stepped into the trees.

"What is it?" Myra looked at Crystal with a frown as the other looked around at the trees.

"Forests and other places like these are giant mazes."

"Mazes?"

"The locals call them Mystery Dungeons. We're gonna have to get through one in order to find a safe place inside here, which is…probably the Petalburg Woods? I think?" Crystal looked around, and Myra noticed that the trees to either side of them seemed to be closer together than trees were supposed to be. It was almost like they had formed a wall. "Anyway, it's not gonna be normal woods. And we're going to have to watch out for wild Pokémon attacking us."

"You mean, we could run into those creatures you're always talking about? The ones that can do what we can?"

Crystal hummed as she nodded. "I can take them on, no problem. I'm pretty sure you can, too, since your powers are already Pokémon-ish. Just follow my lead and you'll be fine!" She grinned and gave Myra a thumbs-up.

Myra blinked at Crystal's sudden show of confidence, then nodded and smiled a little in reply. "Yeah. Okay. So what do we have to keep an eye out for?"

"Well, that depends. If this is the Petalburg Woods, it's going to be Bug and Grass-Types, mostly. Your fire should scare them away at least, since it has the potential of burning the forest down if it's powerful enough. If that doesn't work, I can handle spitting Flamethrowers at them without a problem."

Something shifted in the trees ahead of them, and Myra noticed suddenly that they were following a path that turned sharply to the left up ahead. She clenched her fists in preparation for whatever was coming through.

Something waddled around the corner – a green-brown creature with deep green spots all over its rounded shape. The frowning expression it had on its face almost seemed cute.

"A Shroomish?" Crystal blinked. "Well, that is common enough here—"

The little creature shrieked and shook itself, expelling a dust that was bright yellow in color.

Crystal reared back a little. "Flamethrower!"

The blast of flames that came shooting out of her mouth caused Myra to jump back in surprise as the attack engulfed the Shroomish in flames. The creature shrieked again, then dashed off into the trees, still screaming.

Myra stared at Crystal. "Did you really have to set it on fire?"

"It was either that or we got paralyzed from the Stun Spore it set off," Crystal replied. "Come on; let's keep moving before something bigger finds us."

The two quickened their pace as the screaming faded behind them. Myra couldn't help but look back to make sure that the thing wasn't following after them.

"So, that was a Pokémon?"

"Yup. Shroomish are pretty common around here, but they're normally found deeper in the forest. They like dark, damp places – like mushrooms." Crystal tilted her head to one side, ears twitching a little. "Or are mushrooms like Shroomish?" She shook her head. "I'll have to ask Professor Oak about that one when I find him again."

"So, there are Pokémon like inanimate objects or…?"

"Well, that depends on whether or not the object was invented before or after the Pokémon. I think Voltorb came into existence because of an accident making PokeBalls, but no one's exactly sure on that." Crystal shrugged.

"Th-that sounds  _crazy!_ "

"Maybe to you, but it's normal for me. But if you think that Voltorb sound crazy, wait until you meet my team! My first Pokémon has a giant flower growing out of—"

Something rustled in the trees ahead of them, causing Crystal to cut herself off and turn her attention to what was ahead of them.

A figure stumbled onto the path ahead of them, humanoid in shape but mostly colored green, with a large, round hat on top of its head.

Crystal stiffened. "No way…"

"What is it?" Myra stepped back. "Is it related to that Shroomish thing you took out earlier?"

The figure turned its blank gaze on the two girls, and Crystal sucked in a breath sharply.

"Not on my watch!" Crystal pushed a hand forward, and a blast of strange, purple energy blasted out and slammed into the creature, sending it flying back against a tree.

Something black and sparking flew off the back of the creature's neck as it sank to the ground.

"Samuel!" Crystal ran forward, leaving Myra standing confused.

"Samuel?" Myra repeated.

Crystal ignored her, instead helping the strange-looking Pokémon to its feet as the creature shook its head, the dazed look leaving them.

"Bre?" the creature asked in confusion.

Crystal laughed and grabbed the creature in a hug. "Samuel! You're okay!"

"Breloom?!" the Pokémon stared at Crystal in confused shock, then proceeded to repeat the word rapidly, leaving Myra even more confused.

"I'm fine; they haven't gotten me." Crystal showed the creature the back of her neck. "There are others in the forest who are free, too; they're here to help us! But we have to get through the Petalburg Woods Mystery Dungeon first; think you can help?"

Samuel nodded quickly. "Bre!" He motioned for the two to follow him, then started down the path.

"You can understand what…he's saying?" Myra asked as she fell into step behind Crystal.

"Yeah. Since I'm part Pokémon, I can understand what any creature from my world is saying." Crystal smiled back at Myra. "Samuel is one of the Pokémon on my team; he's a Breloom, which is mostly what it sounds like he's saying when he talks."

"Yeah, I noticed that. So, that Shroomish we ran into earlier would be saying its name over and over?"

"Yup! Breloom are actually the grown-up forms of Shroomish, so I probably Flamethrower'd one of Samuel's cousins or something."

Samuel snorted at that. "Bre."

The trek through the woods continued on for what felt like a few more minutes, and then the path opened up into a small clearing with a strange statue in the middle of a creature with a smaller version of itself in a pouch on its stomach.

"Kangaskhan Rock." Crystal let out a sigh of relief. "This is a good spot to stop for a quick breather. Maybe other people have come through here." She started investigating around the statue as Samuel leaned against it with a tired sigh.

"Are these things important?" Myra moved closer to the statue curiously.

"In Mystery Dungeons, they're vital for survival." Crystal nodded. "They can store items, and work as teleport points if you get damaged to the point of being knocked out. Because it's either you end up at one of these or kicked back to the entrance." She nodded back the way they had come. "No one else has come through yet, so either that means we're ahead of everyone else or they're taking different paths through the woods."

"Is that possible?"

"Yup! But other paths will only end up looping in on each other; they'd have to come through this way eventually. So, do you guys want to sit and wait here or keep moving forward?"

Samuel snorted and muttered something, motioning with one of the red, hoof-like paws on his front towards the path that led out of the clearing.

"What'd he say?" Myra looked at Crystal.

"He said there's a better spot further in, but it's being used by people controlled by the Dark Arms right now." Crystal frowned in thought, tail twitching. "What are we up against, Samuel?"

"Bre-bre."

Crystal's frown deepened, and she gritted her teeth. "Dark-Types. Of course."

"Dark-Types?" Myra repeated.

"The only Type that can resist Psychic attacks like what you and I can do." Crystal shivered a little. "I've had…bad experiences with them, in the past. I'm moving past it, though." She straightened herself, gaining a more confident expression. "And I know moves that can knock them out, and Samuel does too. You hang back while we take care of the Dark-Types; you can handle the rest of them."

Myra blinked at that, then nodded. "Okay, then. If you're so set on it, let's get moving."

Crystal nodded in agreement. "Samuel, come on!"

The next part of the Petalburg Woods was even darker than the first, and the two girls and the Breloom ran into more Pokémon as they went deeper in – more Shroomish, mostly, but there were some spider-like creatures that Crystal called "Ariados" that she also said weren't supposed to be in the area.

"It's almost like Petalburg and the Viridian Forest merged together." Crystal frowned. "This can't be good for the Pokémon that are living in the area."

Myra thought she could see spiderwebs through the trees and figures that didn't look human trapped inside them. She did her best to ignore them and hit the next Ariados with a purple Flamethrower as they kept going deeper.

Eventually, the path opened up again into another open clearing – this one far larger than the one they had reached earlier.

And this one had spiders on the outer edge and seven strange, jewel-covered imps running around every which direction.

"Sabeleye." Crystal gritted her teeth. Then she raised her voice as she started glowing with a bright pink aura. "Hey, gremlins!"

The imps stopped running and looked over at the trio before pulling themselves together into a large clump.

Crystal threw a hand up above her head, the pink aura massing on her open palm. "Moonblast!"

The pink aura  _exploded_  in a bright pink flash that hit the weird-looking Pokémon and sent them flying back into the trees with a loud screech that sounded like rocks scraping together.

"Take care of the Ariados! It looks like they've got some people trapped in their webs!"

Myra looked around at Crystal's yell as more Pokémon started coming out of the trees: six four-legged, black-furred, dog-like animals, with red and yellow eyes and snarls on their faces.

"Samuel!" Crystal barked. "Vacuum Wave!"

"Bre!" Samuel lunged for the Pokémon as Myra started covering her arms in purple fire, preparing to hit the giant spiders as they turned their attention from the wrapped-up bundles in their webs to the intruders.

"Yah!" Myra threw a fireball at one of the Ariados as it started to get close to her, but it pulled back, leaving the purple fire to burn into the grass.

Myra blinked a couple times. "U-uh—"

"Don't just throw the fire! Direct where it should be hit!" Crystal encouraged. "Use the yo-yo!"

Samuel swung around and hit one of the dogs with his tail, sending it flying into a nearby tree with a triumphant yell.

"Got it!" Myra gathered fire in her hands again, a thin spindle of flame wrapping around her ring finger on her right hand before she threw the fireball again – this time with a curve.

The fireball hit the Ariados in the side, causing the creature to let out a loud screech as the "string" between Myra's hand and the fireball dissipated before another fireball formed in her hand. An identical one formed in her left hand a moment later, and she started throwing them at the large spider Pokémon more quickly, using the "strings" to direct where the fireball was going.

One missed and Ariados, which leapt at her with an angered screech.

Myra unleashed a shockwave of purple flames on instinct. "Mental Blast!"

The shockwave caught the Ariados and sent it flying backwards. It landed a short distance away from Myra, legs in the air, unmoving.

"Bre-loom!" Samuel whacked the last of the large black dogs into a tree, then stood back, head held high. "Breeeee!"

Crystal laughed. "Yes, that was awesome!" She looked at the six dog Pokémon for a moment. "Help me see if they've got any black boxes on them like you did – I think one of them might be Mike."

"Bre?!"

"Myra, can you get those bundles opened up? I think there might be some people I know trapped inside them."

Myra nodded to Crystal's request as the pink-eared girl started going through the fur on the back of one of the dog Pokémon. She reached the first of the six bundles of webbing and frowned at it before she set her hands aflame and started pulling away at the sticky white string.

A boy tumbled out of the first one, a red and gold baseball cap worn backwards on his head and with a matching jacket and shorts. A sprig of black hair was sticking out from under his hat, and there were a small number of red and white spheres attached to the belt at his waist.

Myra checked to see if he had a black box on the back of his neck and blinked in surprise when she found he didn't have one. "Uh…"

"Gold!" Crystal leapt up as one of the black dogs she had been looking over started to get unsteadily to its feet. Crystal crushed a black box in her hand and ran over. "Is he—"

"He doesn't have one and I have no clue why." Myra shrugged.

"It's because he's part Electric." Crystal looked up at Myra with a grin. "They don't like Electric-Types because they mess with the circuitry of the MindTech. Come on – let's check the other ones; there could be more people like Gold here!"

Crystal instantly went to the second one and started tearing it open; Myra followed suit and started working at the third.

The two pods of webbing opened to release two more boys: one dressed in red, with orange  _dragon wings_  on his back and a tail with a small spurt of flame on the end, and the other with brown, spiky hair dressed in blue, with a turtle shell affixed to his back.

"Red! Blue!" Crystal checked the backs of their necks and let out a relieved sound. "They haven't been boxed, either. This must've been where they were holding caught prisoners until the Dark Arms could pick them up."

"Then doesn't that mean we should be moving on as quickly as possible?" Myra started pulling at the fourth pod's webbing worriedly.

Crystal's excited expression faded a little. "Yeah, yeah, that definitely sounds like a good idea." She started pulling at the fifth pod's webbing as Myra pulled out a girl with bright red flowers in her brown hair.

"So, who's this one?" Myra lay the girl down gently on the ground and checked to make sure there wasn't a black box on the back of her neck.

"That's Leaf. She's a Grass-Type, Red's a Fire-Type, and Blue's a Water-Type." Crystal started pulling out a the fifth figure – a little girl with long, yellow hair and a straw hat on her head. "And this is Yellow – she's a Normal-Type."

"There's such a thing as a  _Normal_ -Type?" Myra asked in confusion.

"Well, yeah."

Myra turned sharply at the new voice and saw Gold starting to push himself up to his feet.

"They're the only Pokémon that don't have a Type they're super-effective against," Gold added. He brushed off his jacket, then paused and looked at Crystal as she started working at the final pod. "Wait. Crystal? What are you doing here?"

"Saving you, what does it look like?" Crystal gritted her teeth as she pulled a little harder on the strings that were holding the last pod together. "Man, this is stronger than the last ones – Myra, do you think you can—"

Something purple sparked from inside the pod, causing Crystal to stumble back with a yelp of surprise as purple electricity danced up her arm for a second.

The pod wriggled, and a muffled yell came from inside the pod seconds before it exploded with a bright purple flash of lightning. Myra pulled an arm up over her face to keep her eyes from getting hit by a large glob of the stuff.

"Guh! Man, if one of those things comes near me again, I'm frying it!"

Myra lowered her arm and stared at the figure who had just released himself from the pod of spider webbing: a dark-skinned teenage boy wearing a purple, black, yellow, and white outfit with a lightning-bolt shape on the black shirt he was wearing.

"Geez, and I thought that—" The boy cut himself off and looked over at the rest of the group standing in the clearing before getting into a defensive stance. "Who are you?! Are you with them?!"

Crystal held up her hands. "C-could you calm down? Just a little bit? W-we're not with the Dark Arms if that's what you're—"

He was instantly in Crystal's face, purple sparks flying from his hair and fingers. "And how am I to know that for sure?"

"Hey!" Gold stepped forward and grabbed one of the boy's hands. "I've got the Lightning Rod ability and I'm not afraid to use it."

Even as Gold spoke, the purple sparks were starting to dart up Gold's arm, causing the other to look at him sharply.

He pulled his arm from Gold's hand. "Okay, okay, so you're not with them. Who are you?"

"I'm Crystal, and these are Gold, Samuel, Mike, and Myra." Crystal motioned to each of them in turn.

"I hope you're not forgetting about us."

Myra turned around sharply at the unfamiliar voice, her eyes widening when she caught sight of Red standing upright and with his arms crossed over his chest as Blue picked Yellow up and Leaf rose unsteadily to her feet.

Crystal turned and gained a sheepish expression. "R-right. I just wasn't sure if you were going to wake up anytime soon."

"Being out in the fresh air helps." Red looked over at Myra and frowned a little. "You two shouldn't be alone in the middle of the woods like this. We have a hideout not far from here."

"You're hiding out in the middle of the woods?" the dark-skinned boy asked, frowning.

"This entire area's been taken over by the forest," Blue replied flatly. "It's not like we have any other choice. Come on; let's get away from the Ariados nests before they wake up and start combing this part of the woods again."

"There are more of us out here," Crystal spoke up quickly. "People from other places that got mixed up in all this. We're gonna need them to get where we're going, too."

"I'll find them." Leaf took off into the trees, a black dog from the pack of six loping off after her.

"U-uh—"

"The Mighteyna's safe; I checked her," Crystal gave Myra a reassuring look. "Come on; she'll be able to find the others and get them to where we're going."

Myra frowned, then nodded a little. If Crystal was willing to trust Red and the others, then that meant it was probably safe to follow them.

"And what's your name?" Gold looked over at the dark-skinned boy.

"…call me Static," the boy replied in a guarded tone.


	17. Hidden Fortree

The hidden base that Red led them to was an interconnecting system of tree houses spread around a large clearing in the center of the expansive forest – or so Blue said, and at this point Myra wasn't sure whether they really were in the center of the forest or not.

"This used to be Fortree," Gold explained as they stepped into the clearing. Heads poked out of the tree houses arranged on the edge of the clearing, and shouts went up shortly afterward.

"They're back!"

"Guys! I think I can see Crystal!"

"Crystal's back!"

Crystal's eyes lit up at the cries, a wide grin quickly spreading across her face. "Xavier! Al! Kyle! It's good to see you're all okay!" She immediately bolted for one of the trees, Yellow, Samuel, and Mike right behind her as three figures scrambled down from the trees to meet her.

"Nice set-up you got," Static commented with a nod. "I bet I've seen better, though."

"We've been better," Blue replied shortly. "With those monsters out there corralling the Pokémon and making them act against their Trainers, we've been put in a tight spot."

"We got Samuel and Mike back." Myra motioned to the Breloom and the dog – which she'd learned was called Mighteyna – circling around Crystal and her friends quite happily as others started coming out of the tree houses. "I-I bet we can do the same thing for whatever other Pokémon –"

"Cornering Pokémon like Mighteyna and Ariados are one thing, but Legendary and Mythical Pokémon like Mewtwo and Mew are something else entirely." Blue looked at Myra. "We're lucky they didn't get Arceus and that he's off who-knows-where with Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina to keep them out of this mess."

"I'm…guessing that's a bad thing?"

"Bad doesn't cover it." Gold had an equally grim look on his face. "They're considered the trio that created our world as we know it, so if they'd been caught by those dark horned things…."

"They're called Dark Arms." Myra frowned. "Or…do you guys not know that?"

Red, Blue, and Gold exchanged looks.

"I was wondering the same thing, actually," Static commented. "They're the guys I've been running from ever since they got a buddy of mine. I just hope they didn't get my partner."

"Your partner?" Myra looked at Static confusion.

"Yeah, he—"

_"Virgil!"_

A green blur suddenly slammed into Static from behind, knocking him off-balance.

"I thought you'd been snatched for sure, man!" Gear grinned at Static as the other stared at him with a look of blank shock.

"Richie?" Static asked in confusion. "Where the – when did – I thought you were  _dead,_  man! Why didn't M-"

Gear slammed a hand over Static's mouth cutting him off. "Don't finish that! We're calling her Flare-Up to keep them from hunting us down."

Static pulled his head back. "Since when does her name get them to hunt us down?"

"Since they found a way to make it a magic homing device."

Myra turned as Static stiffened and Seeker came out of the woods, followed by James and Captain America.

"Matt?" Static asked in confusion. A grin crossed his face. "Man, everyone's coming out of the woodwork today. What next – is Luthor gonna—"

"Curse these stupid trees and these stupid mazes!" Luthor stumbled out of the trees, followed by Brainiac, who looked just as annoyed as Luthor sounded.

Static stared. "O…kay what about Flare-Up?"

Seeker grinned. "She's not with us right now, but she's gonna be joining up with us soon. She's broken free and is helping X and Zero get their Zone back."

"Who?" Red frowned.

Seeker looked over at him and blinked. "Whoa. Okay, when Crystal mentioned you were part Charizard, I wasn't sure whether she was joking." He refocused. "X and Zero are robotic beings that can think and feel like humans, but were created artificially. Flare-Up – my sister – was turned into one when she nearly died at one point, so she's giving them as much help as she can while sending the rest of us ahead to help you guys."

Red raised an eyebrow as more people started gathering into the clearing, Leaf and her Mighteyna among them. "How are you going to help? Our entire world has been shrunk into a giant forest filled with mazes and wild Pokémon, not to mention people who have been taken over. What exactly can you do that might be of help?"

"Well, I was born with the powers of a Lucario, so that should be of some use." Seeker's eyes sparked a brighter blue. "And there are some among us who can use some pretty interesting abilities, too. Take Myra for example."

Red looked over at Myra, who took that as a signal to summon a purple fireball onto her palm.

"Her powers are similar to Flare-Up's, but they're more Psychic than actual Fire," Seeker added. "If Flare-Up catches up with us before we reach the Cyber Zone, you'll be able to see what I mean."

"Yeah!" Static agreed instantly. "You should've seen what happened to Brainiac when he tried to do his thing! She practically melted him!"

Brainiac looked over at that, looking somewhat miffed – if the robot could look miffed.

Blue's eyebrows shot up at that. "So, if you've got the powers of a Lucario, what Pokémon would Flare-Up be?"

"Either an overpowered Vulpix or a Ninetales," Seeker replied without missing a beat. "She was turned into a Vulpix at one point and led her own exploration guild for a while, but she chose not to evolve."

"…you're not joking." Blue looked surprised.

"I'd like to meet her," Red said, a grin starting to cross his face.

"She has to catch up with us first, and in the meantime we can help you out here," Seeker replied. "Who is it that you need to keep an eye out for and rescue?"

Red, Blue, and Gold exchanged looks at that as the rest of the group who had come with Seeker started to move towards the tree houses.

"If you know what Vulpix and Lucario are, I'm guessing you know about Mew and Mewtwo, too." Gold looked at Seeker.

Seeker nodded. "Yeah. Are you looking for them?"

"Crystal's brothers and sister have been missing ever since the start of this whole mess." Blue nodded over to where Crystal was being slowly surrounded by the denizens of the clearing. "We thought she might've been nabbed too."

"I'm guessing they've got names in this dimension?"

"Mewtwo is Mythos and the two Mew that we know of are Rosa and Catzin." Red paused. "Catzin's blue, not pink. It's the only way we can tell them apart."

"A  _shiny?_ " Seeker's eyes widened. "No way!"

"Doesn't make him any easier to find," Blue muttered.

"You make it sound like these guys are really powerful," Myra spoke up. "Just…how bad is it?"

The three Zone natives looked at Myra.

"Pretty bad," Gold said. "They can use almost every single move that exists. Crystal's pretty much the only one who can stand up against them – they trained her, she knows what they can do and how to counter it."

"But then they know how to counter her, too, right?"

"They only trained her in the beginning; Crystal'd be able to handle them." Gold sounded confident, but there was a look in his eyes that suggested something else.

"I'm guessing you guys aren't the only ones who are part Pokémon, either," Seeker commented. "I'm guessing Charizard and Blastoise for you two, at least." He nodded to Red and Blue, then looked over at Gold.

Gold pulled off his hat, revealing a white stripe in his hair. "Zebstrika, now."

Seeker nodded. "We don't have anyone like that on the world of Pokémon that Flare-Up and I can travel to, so this is definitely going to make things more interesting. Is there anyone who's been caught that we need to worry about?"

"Black and Lauraina." Gold's expression darkened as he put his hat back on. "They're the only ones who are missing, and they're Dark and Poison."

"So, they're the ones who sent the Ariados and Mighteyna after us?" Myra guessed.

"You catch on quick." Blue nodded. "Yeah, they're the main source of that problem. We have to get through to them somehow, but the problem is finding them. In these woods, it's like searching for a needle in a haystack."

"I bet I could find them."

They looked over at Seeker, who had his head inclined somewhat in thought.

"Aura is aura, and not even Dark-Types can hide that sort of thing," Seeker continued. "Let me put together a group and head out sometime to look for them."

"You really think you can take them on?" Blue raised an eyebrow.

Seeker snorted. "I've fought giant metal beings and won against them before, and I know how Pokémon Types work. I may not be experienced when it comes to giant Mystery Dungeons, but I can learn fast. It helps that my sister's been through more than she's been able to count, and told me a lot about how the physics of these places works. I may not have the Stair Sensor technique like she does, but I bet I could pick it up pretty quickly." He grinned.

Red and Blue stared at him while Myra blinked in confusion.

"Count me in!" Static jumped into the conversation, Gear next to him and with the biggest grin on his face that Myra had ever seen. "I want to get back at those guys for stickin' me in that spider's web in the first place!"

Seeker gave him a thumbs-up. "Considering yourself on my team. Now we need two more at most, preferably someone who knows this forest and has abilities that our opponents are weak against."

"Don't go rushing into things," Gold warned. "Take a breather and take stock of who you have first. Then you can rush out there and do something about Lauraina and Black. You're going to need items, too. Time and space are really wonky over here."

"More wonky than they're supposed to be, you mean," Seeker corrected. "They're always strange in a Mystery Dungeon. Show me what you've got and I'll see if I can get some help to bolster what defenses you have. Gear and Forge can probably throw something together for you guys." He looked over at Myra. "Go ahead and rest up, maybe have a look around."

Myra nodded as Seeker walked off with Red, Gold, and Blue. Gear pulled Static off in another direction, grinning as they started to make their way around the tree houses to have a closer look at them.

As soon as she was sure she wasn't going to be bugged, Myra let out a sigh of relief and let all the tension relax from her shoulders. They were in another safe place – for now, at least. Hopefully, she'd be able to sit and take a nap somewhere.

So she made her way over to one of the tree houses and sat down with her back against the trunk, near the ladder that climbed up into the tree house above.

"Just a couple minutes," Myra murmured to herself as she closed her eyes.

**Time Break**

Myra was woken rather abruptly by someone shaking her left shoulder.

"Hey, Myra!"

Myra opened an eye blearily and saw Crystal standing over her, grinning.

"Since we've got some time now, I figured it'd be a good idea to work on training with you for a bit," Crystal said. "You up for it?"

Myra blinked, then shrugged and pushed herself up to her feet. "I don't see why not, I guess. It would help to keep me on my toes, just in case something tries to sneak up on us."

"That, and you need to get stronger," Crystal added. "That shockwave of mental energy you released back there against the Ariados shows that you are getting stronger, but I want to see if you can use your Mental Shock without falling over too quickly."

"What's the plan, then?"

Crystal grinned. "We have to push you to your limits so that your body can grow stronger, so there's more energy for you to use later. You ready?"

Myra smirked, then nodded as she brought up her fists. Purple flames quickly covered them. "I could use a spar. Let's do this."

Crystal laughed and hopped back, hovering as Myra lunged towards her and swung a fist, intending to punch the Mew girl but missing.

"I'm really going to have to learn to do that," Myra commented with a scowl.

"Well, learn more about attacking first and maybe then I'll teach you how to levitate." Crystal landed, then lunged forward herself, throwing her own fists forward.

Myra brought her arms up on instinct, the fire on her fists quickly expanding into a shield that Crystal's fists slammed against instead of reaching Myra and hitting her in the face.

"Protect? Nice!" Crystal drew back as Myra looked up in surprise. "That's going to come in handy!"

"Huh." Myra blinked as the purple flames dissipated into the air. "That's pretty cool."

"Stings a little too, actually." Crystal shook out her hands. "It's acting more like a Spiky Shield than anything else, which is really useful when facing against physical attackers. You might want to keep that in mind next time you go up against someone."

Myra nodded. "Yeah; sure."

"Now, come on! The day's still young and I'm sure you've got a lot more energy to burn!" Crystal backed up, then lunged at Myra again, forcing the other girl to dodge as they started to circle.

Figures started to gather on the edge of the clearing, watching as Crystal and Myra started exchanging blows but never quite hit each other, firing blasts of Psychic energy – or Psychic fire – at each other and forcing the other to dodge.

Myra and Crystal probably would have kept going were it not for the fact that something suddenly flew into the clearing from the open sky and landed on the ground between them, forcing them both to skid back a short distance.

Myra didn't take much time in taking a closer look at the creature: purple skin of various shades, three-fingered paws, a long purple tail, and glazed over, dark purple eyes that looked between her and Crystal.

"Oh no," Crystal said, faintly.

"What is it?" Myra glanced over at Crystal quickly before looking back at the creature.

"Mythos." Crystal gulped. "My brother's found us."

Myra blinked, then looked over at Crystal. "What? That's your brother?"

Crystal nodded a little as the people standing on the outside of the clearing started moving back and scrambling up the trees as quickly and quietly as possible.

"It looks like he had Hypnosis cast on him…we're going to have to take him out." Crystal gulped.

"How?"

The creature – no, Mythos, Myra reminded herself – started to shift his position into an attack stance.

"Stay behind me!" Crystal put an arm in front of Myra and pushed her back while she sharply raised the other one, creating a barrier of thick glass between the two girls and Mythos right before a sphere of blue energy slammed into the wall. The Barrier trembled, but held as the sphere dissipated.

Mythos' form flickered, then moved in a blur, trying to get behind the two girls, but Crystal whirled and threw a sphere of dark purple energy that somehow felt wrong.

The sphere hit Mythos in the chest and caused him to stumble back, wincing.

Myra stepped back as Crystal's hair started to rise, sparking with electricity. A blast of lightning followed, making the clearing rock with a sonic boom as the electricity slammed into Mythos and sent him skidding back even further.

Sparks flew from Mythos' arms as he started to move, muscles starting and stopping in random spasms.

Crystal let out a sigh of relief. "Okay. He's paralyzed for now."

Something started smoking on Mythos' back.

"That MindTech is going to blow!" Seeker yelled. "Everyone – get down!"

Mythos stared moving erratically, arms and tail spazzing out in different directions as he shut his eyes in pain.

Crystal pushed Myra to the ground, then leapt forward, hands glowing bright blue and pink.

The flash of bright orange and explosion of noise that followed was bright enough that Myra was forced to shut her own eyes and throw her arms up over her head in order to keep herself from being blinded. Even as it was, her ears were still caught in the crossfire and pounded with the noise.

Myra stayed down on the ground for what felt like half a minute before she felt something press down on top of her head, and a pulse of  _something_  spread out from it.

Her ears popped.

"—we go. Myra, can you hear me?"

Myra opened her eyes in surprise, then lowered her arms from her face and looked up at Crystal as she pulled her hand back. "What did you just do?"

"Heal Pulse." Crystal smiled sympathetically. "Sorry about that; I wasn't expecting the MindTech to explode like that. You're probably going to have minor ear damage after this."

"Well, at least I didn't lose it." Myra started to rise to her feet, then paused when she saw Mythos collapsed on the ground, smoke rising from the remains of something at the back of his head. "Is he…"

"Just knocked out," Crystal replied. "He'll be awake in a little bit."

The figures standing at the edge of the clearing and peering out of their tree houses started to hesitantly come down and approach the collapsed Pokémon.

Seeker came over at a confident jog ahead of the rest. "I find it hard to believe you managed to take out a Mewtwo that fast."

"I know Mythos' tells; I can figure out at least some of his moves." Crystal paused. "That, and he looked somewhat off. Like he wasn't quite who he was supposed to be."

Myra frowned. "Not quite who he was supposed to be? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means he was fighting back against those morons."

Myra, Crystal, and Seeker looked over as Static strode over, Gear right behind him.

"What do you mean?" Crystal blinked.

"Those guys tried the same thing with me that they pulled on Cap." Static motioned to the back of his neck. "They had me for half a day before my electromagnetism completely burned them out. I've been on the run ever since."

"Since Mythos and Crystal are siblings and Mythos probably has psychic abilities like Crystal does, maybe he was fighting back mentally," Gear suggested. "Is…something like that possible?" He looked over at Crystal curiously.

Crystal frowned. "Maybe…I haven't been in a situation like that before, though, so I wouldn't know."

Mythos groaned, and the group stepped back a few paces. They looked at each other nervously as the Pokémon started to get to his feet, shaking his head as the remains of the MindTech fell into a smoking heap on the grass. Bleary purple eyes looked around, then focused on Crystal as she took a nervous step back.

 _"Crystal?"_  Mythos blinked slowly, then turned in place, first slowly, then more quickly.  _"Where—"_

 _"You're okay!"_  Crystal grabbed Mythos in a hug as Myra registered with a jolt that Crystal and Mythos were both using telepathy.  _"The dark monsters that were chasing the both of us got to you, but they didn't get me. You're yourself now, though."_

Mythos blinked a couple times as that sank in, and his eyes widened slightly.

"There's a lot that's happened since the Dark Arms first showed up," Seeker spoke up, causing Mythos to look over at him. "We'll catch you up, but the short version is this: a number of worlds have been merged together because of the Dark Arms and they've been trying to take over every single one ever since. We're the only thing that's standing between them and completely taking over."

Mythos looked at Seeker for a moment, then nodded.  _"If these being seek to control what should not be controlled, then they should be stopped before they do anything else. Consider me one of your number here."_

Seeker nodded. "My name is Seeker. My sister is Flare-Up, the World Jumper who was running around with the Dark Arms before she broke loose. I don't know if they can pick up telepathy or not, but please keep from saying her actual name if you know it. It'll attract their attention."

Mythos nodded.

"We probably aren't going to stay here too long – those of us who aren't a part of your world, that is. Our plan is to at least help rescue Black and Lauraina from the Dark Arms' control, then move on to the next World Zone. The plan is to give you more of a fighting chance if the Dark Arms try to send more forces in, and I'm not planning on just leaving this world completely defenseless."

Static frowned. "But what about the Dark Arms, man? How are we gonna kick them out? They're using  _my home_  as their base!"

"Not just our dimension's mixed up in that Dark City mess, V," Gear spoke up. "Cap's is, too, and probably others."

"I know that! What I wanna know is how we're gonna kick them out of here and fix everything!"

"I've been thinking about that," Seeker replied patiently, "but I'd have to go over the plan with Flare-Up, and she's helping X and Zero right now. When we meet up in the Cyber Zone, I'll see what she thinks of the plan and whether or not we should follow through."

Static frowned and folded his arms across his chest. After a moment of frowning at Seeker, he nodded. "All right. If you say so."

 _"If you are searching for the Poison-Type and Dark-Type humans, it is going to be difficult to find them."_ Mythos frowned.  _"Especially considering that one of them is capable of shielding his mind from me."_

Seeker's eyes flashed a brighter blue. "I can see aura; Black shouldn't be all that much of a problem to find."

Mythos' eyes widened sharply.

"And his sister is a Vulpix in human form!" Crystal added, eyes bright. "They know their way around Mystery Dungeons – I bet Seeker will be able to find them without a problem."

"If that's the case, then you'd better get moving."

The group looked over as Red and Blue stepped forward, serious looks on both their faces and a yellow rodent-looking creature perched on Red's shoulder.

"Those two have been having their Pokémon run rampant all over the forest, and it's only gotten worse since you kids got here!" The creature shot Crystal and Myra a pointed look.

"Is that mouse—"

"His name's Riley," Crystal told Myra as the girl's jaw dropped. "He's one of the few Pokémon that can speak like a human." She looked at Red, Riley, and Blue. "So, what's the plan then? Is there anyone who's already here who wants to help?"

"Pearl said he wanted to get in there and show Black a thing or two, but I don't think that we want a hothead like him running in there." Seeker paused. "I actually thought he would have been a Monferno or Infernape in this universe, not a Meditite." He shook his head. "Diamond is much more level-headed, and while I can handle Black on my own, we're going to need someone who knows these woods well now that it's been turned into a Mystery Dungeon."

"Leaf could guide you, but she's scared of them both, and for good reason." Red's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I've fought them both before," Crystal spoke up. "If I go out there, they're going to want to look for me – at least, Lauraina will. She's going to want revenge for what happened."

"She shouldn't have just been put in an asylum, she should have been locked in solitary confinement," Blue muttered, causing Myra's eyes to widen sharply. "Are you sure you want to do that, Crystal? You're going to be walking into enemy territory."

"I've been in it already and I'm fine," Crystal replied. "I can handle myself, and having a World Jumper's brother with me isn't going to do any harm." She nodded to Seeker, who gained a sheepish expression when Red and Blue looked at him sharply.

"He's not just a World Jumper's brother," Static spoke up. "Matt's a World Jumper, too."

Myra turned sharply to stare at Seeker as Crystal's jaw dropped.

"What? You're one too?!" Crystal looked between Static and Seeker. "B-but I thought that there was only supposed to be one World Jumper in an area at a time! Why—"

"My whole family is made up of World Jumpers," Seeker replied. "A couple neighbors, too – Khrista may as well be a cousin at this point."

Crystal stared.

"Um…" Myra ducked her head as they turned their attention to her. "Flare-Up thinks I could be a World Jumper too, since my world isn't here."

Crystal turned her wide-eyed gaze to Myra. "You what?" She looked at Seeker. "Did you know about that?"

"Myra told me when we were going through the Maverick Zone," Seeker replied. "And it makes sense; the memories she's gotten back have referenced a world that our sister and parents went to at some point. Considering that Flare-Up and I can both confirm that it isn't here, then Myra probably came to one of the worlds that was involved in the World Collision before they collided together." Seeker looked over at Myra and Static. "It'd be a good idea if we kept this knowledge from the Dark Arms as much as possible; they could use us to keep doing what they had Flare-Up doing."

"And that was?" Static responded.

"Where do you think they got the power to merge these worlds together in the first place?"

The silence that came over the clearing made Myra's shoulders sink down with the weight of what Seeker had just told them.

"Then why would they want to—"

"They wanted me dead because of something World Jumpers can do." Seeker cut Static off as Myra's eyes widened sharply. "Now that my sister isn't under their control, that means they're going to be actively looking for us, either to get rid of us or to use us to bring more worlds in. I'm not about to stick around long enough to let that happen." Seeker looked over at Crystal and Static. "You two and Diamond are going to be coming with me, then. I remember you said you wanted to come along, Static."

Static nodded. "Yeah."

"Myra, you stay here and keep an eye out for anyone who might be coming in that could have MindTech on them. Fortree's going to need someone who knows how to take them out quickly and easily."

"I'll do my best." Myra nodded.

Seeker nodded in reply. "Good. Let's move out and get Black and this Lauraina before they do who knows what to the woods."


	18. Scribe

The forest felt a little more ominous now than it had when Myra had entered it. Seeker, Crystal, Static, and a boy wearing a red cap on his head that apparently hid a pair of small, circular ears had disappeared into the trees about an hour ago, and they hadn't come back yet.

It made Myra wonder if they'd been caught by surprise by something out there and they needed someone to go in after them.

Or, maybe she should bolt before things got really ugly and the Dark Arms came down on all their heads.

_"You are considering running. That would be most unwise."_

Myra stiffened and turned away from the forest at the sudden telepathic voice. Mythos was standing behind her, tail twitching back and forth as he watched her.

 _"The people here need all the help they can get, especially considering that we are at a disadvantage."_  Mythos walked forward to stand next to her.

Myra looked down nervously. "I'm used to traveling alone. I've been with these guys for a while, but…it doesn't feel right, at least a little. The constantly moving thing helps at least a little, but…." She trailed off and sighed. "I don't belong here."

_"If what you said before is to be believed, no, you do not. As a World Jumper, you have no home here. You are not familiar with Pokémon such as myself, and you are not even half Psychic-Type yourself, despite your abilities."_

Myra hummed and rubbed her left arm nervously. "I think I might have accidentally taken a dip in a pool of Mako, but I…don't exactly remember well yet."

 _"…As I do not know what Mako is, I will simply take your word on that,"_  Mythos replied carefully.  _"What is your home like, Myra?"_

"…well, there's a lot more machines there, I think. Not like in the Maverick Zone, where it sounds like everybody's a robot, but…something like that, I think." Myra frowned a little. "I…I can remember a church. A torn-up playground. A mountain range with dark secrets in it. A…a lot of something that was really poisonous but also really, really helpful." She scratched her head, brow furrowing. "I…I dunno. Most of it is just flashes of different things. I'm not getting a clear picture of most of it."

 _"It is a start,"_  Mythos replied.  _"And that, I believe, is all that you could ask for at this given moment. There are other things to put your focus towards."_

Myra nodded. Survival, at this very moment, was more important than knowing what she'd done in the past or what people she knew actually looked like.

Even if she was curious about Seeker's and Flare-Up's sister and what their parents might have looked like.

_"You need not worry over our allies. They know what it is they are doing, and I believe that Seeker knows more about our world than just that his sister has been to it before."_

Myra nodded absently. "Yeah. I just…I hope they're not gonna run into anything too bad out there. Like a giant dragon or some kind of monster that'll trap and eat them or  _something."_

Something flitted in at the back of her mind – a giant dragon that did not look the  _least_  bit friendly and definitely did  _not_  want to be friends with humans.

"…like Bahamut…or something like that." Myra scratched her head. "Where did that name come from?"

 _"A recovered memory, it seems."_ Mythos tilted his head to one side.  _"Bahamut…it sounds like it could be the name of a dragon. I shall have to see if there is anyone here who has named one of their Pokémon that. Later, when we are more safe from these…Dark Arms."_  Mythos' expression turned into one of disgust.  _"They have no reason for doing what they have done."_

Myra shook her head. "I hope Seeker and Flare-Up know how to beat them. Just thinking of meeting a Dark Arms in person…" She shuddered.

 _"You are a World Jumper who has found allies who are quite similar to you in strength and abilities,"_  Mythos replied.  _"I do not doubt that you will be able to hold your own far better than others here."_

"Even you?" Myra looked at the Pokémon with an expression of surprise. "But Crystal said you were—"

 _"I know what I am."_  Mythos' voice came out clipped and terse.  _"And even I have my weaknesses, despite my origins."_

"Oh." Myra ducked her head.

 _"All Pokémon have other Types that they are either strong or weak against. For a time, there were two Pokémon that were thought to have virtually no weaknesses, but then the Fairy-Types showed up."_  Mythos chuckled.  _"As I am a Psychic-Type, I am weak to Pokémon such as the ones Black employs, or Ghost and Bug-Types."_

"Crystal mentioned there were Pokémon that were basically ghosts…." Myra frowned. "But you know how to do things that would keep them back, right?"

_"Of course I—"_

A branch snapped out in the woods, cutting Mythos off as he turned sharply to face the trees. Myra followed his movements a second later, clenching her fists and bringing them up just in case she needed to summon her fire.

Mythos took a slight step back, eyes taking on an odd, bright blue hue that looked familiar.  _"A human, but not completely human."_

Myra frowned. "What do you—"

A teenage girl burst out of the trees at a run and slammed into Mythos, crying out in surprise and falling back on her rear before looking up at the two of them with wide green eyes, chocolate brown hair having fallen over her face and shoulders.

The teenager looked between Mythos and Myra with wide eyes. "U-u-uh—" She gulped and scrambled to her feet. "I've got to get out of here." She started running across the clearing towards the other side.

Mythos held out a hand, and the girl suddenly stopped and was pulled up into the air with a shriek that got the attention of the others who were sitting on the decks of the tree houses.  _"Why are you in such a hurry?"_

"Is there something coming after you?" Myra moved closer to the girl as she twisted in the air, trying to get down but not able to.

"Yes! I-it's –" the girl gulped. "It's Airam. The Dark Arms want me."

Mythos tilted his head to one side and frowned.  _"Airam?"_

Myra gulped. "We saw her going through the Maverick Zone – Flare-Up went after her to keep her off our backs. I hope Airam didn't get around her somehow…"

The teenage girl blinked in confusion as Mythos looked at Myra with an odd expression.

"F-flare-Up?" the teenage girl repeated. Her eyes slowly started to widen. "Y-you don't mean…the same being that – that the Dark Arms are after?"

"Uh…yeah, probably? I mean, I don't think there's anyone else going around using 'Flare-Up' as a name." Myra looked around and noticed a slowly gathering crowd of humans and various Pokémon species that she hadn't gotten the names of yet.

"And she's working with you. Against the Dark Arms." The fear in the girl's eyes was starting to die; suddenly, she looked much more serious than Myra had been expecting.

"Uh…yeah? Why?" Myra took a step back cautiously, not sure what to think of this stranger.

The teenage girl closed her eyes and took in a breath before opening them again. "My name is Kia. Flare-Up and her friend Khrista know me as Scribe." She hesitated. "The Dark Arms want me because I know how things end for them, but I'm not able to tell anyone when, how, or why unless I have to."

Myra frowned. "How's  _that_  possible? That doesn't sound like it should be able to happen."

"I'm different." Kia looked at Mythos. "Could you please…put me down? I won't be going anywhere for a little while."

Mythos tilted his head slightly as he considered that, then nodded and lowered Kia to the ground.

Kia whipped a dark green notebook and pen out of thin air, causing Myra to jump in surprise. "Okay; I can't stay here long because the Dark Arms can track me a lot easier than they can track Flare-Up, so I'll just give you a message and keep moving before Airam finds this place and burns it to the ground – with everyone still trapped inside the Twisted Woods."

Red stepped forward. "A message?"

"Yeah." Kia looked over at him. "From someone higher than he dimensional planes can hold." She looked back at her notebook and started paging through it quickly. "I want to say he's on the same level as Arceus, but he could be higher, depending on where you're from…."

"Higher than Arceus?!" Riley, sitting on his usual perch on Red's shoulder, looked angered at the idea. "How can you be higher than the creator of—"

"He only created your specific dimension; there are beings who are attributed to creating multiple dimensions," Kia replied without looking up. "When my dimension was destroyed, he took me in as something of a messenger and historian for him. I've been following Flare-Up's story for a while, so I'll make this quick before the Dark Arms' little Flare-Up copy catches up with me." She looked at Myra with an expression that felt apologetic before turning to look at the rest of the group. "Where's Seeker?"

"Someone call my name?"

Myra turned sharply as Seeker stepped out of the trees, followed by Static, Crystal, the boy who had followed them out, and a woman with a crazy look in her yellow eyes and a boy wearing a mostly-blue outfit with a red baseball cap and a long purple tail coming out the back of his pants.

Seeker frowned as the rest of his group scattered. "Who might you be? I didn't see you around here before."

"I'm the one the Dark Arms are looking for," Kia replied. "The one they sent Airam after."

Seeker's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Is Flare-Up nearby?"

Kia shook her head. "I ran into her, but I went on ahead. She knows what she has to do."

Seeker frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"You said you had a message, right?" Myra pressed.

Kia nodded. "The Dark Arms are looking to stop the Last Resort from taking place. You're going to have to cut off the head if you're going to want to stop them for good."

"I kinda figured." Seeker nodded slightly. "Is that all to the message?"

"Your sister will know what to do, and when. It's going to be soon." Kia paused. "Meet her in the Cyber Zone. She'll fill you in on the plan from there – Myra's playing a part in it as well."

Seeker nodded again; Myra looked startled.

"M-me?" Myra squeaked. "But I don't have all my memories back yet!"

"Don't put yourself down just because you're not at full power, everything will come back in time, but that is something you don't have right now," Kia replied. She made a slight motion with one hand, cream-colored sparks dancing in the air in the wake of her fingers. "You have enough, and that's all that matters."

"How much time do we have?" Seeker asked grimly. "And who sent you?"

"Someone the Dark Arms have been combating against for a thousand centuries and a day all at once after they destroyed their own world," Kia replied crisply. "And mine along with it." Something in her eyes wavered for a moment, but then she steeled herself. "I am the Historian for both myself and my counterparts, and that includes their families. I know what happens in past, present, and future."

"If you do, then tell me." Seeker grabbed Kia's arm. "What happens when the Dark Arms are destroyed?"

Kia pulled her arm out of Seeker's hand. "That will be a long time in coming. You won't defeat them here; this is only the start. The Axolotl is already aware that Flare-Up will be spreading her reach far beyond the worlds and times you already know, and that reach alone will be able to defeat the Dark Arms for good, unlike the first of us who came into contact with them." She paused, taking in a shaky breath as more cream-colored sparks started flying from her shoulders. "I have to keep moving. Because of the nature of things, I have to take more of an active roll here than I'm used to. It's…good, to be in the middle of things again." She looked at Myra, then at Seeker. "I'll take care of the Hyrule Zone and any fragments that might be attached to it. You focus on reaching the Cyber Zone and, from there, the Dark City itself."

"Going my way?" Pitch Black glided over on light feet. "Because I have a few…things…I would like to get across to those Guardians."

Kia looked the Nightmare King up and down without so much as a flicker of fear. Then she nodded. "We can make that a stop. We're going to need someone who can stand against Ganon. Or against North, if we pass through the Hyrule Zone first." She raised an eyebrow. "How do things seem to you?"

"I sense a nervousness, but nothing much else." Pitch's face flickered with annoyance.

"That will change." Kia nodded, then looked at Seeker. "I wish you luck. May you fare better than Shifter did attempting to defend our world."

Seeker and Myra blinked in confusion.

"Shifter?" Seeker repeated.

Kia reached up and grasped Pitch's arm. The cream-colored sparks surrounded them both in a fizzing outline.

"Hey, wait—"

"Chaos Control!"

There was a bright, cream-colored flash, and the two were gone.

Seeker dropped his hand, blinking rapidly. Myra rubbed at her eyes in order to get the spots out of them.

"…what just happened?" Myra asked in confusion.

Seeker was frowning when Myra looked over at him. "The Axolotl…destroyed dimensions….there's more going on here than just a bunch of aliens deciding to merge worlds together to play with." He looked over at Myra, then around at the crowd that had gathered. "We have to move on. Time is of the essence, and without Dialga here to give us more of it, we have to make use of what time we have. I'm sorry we couldn't find more of your allies for you while we were here."

"I'm staying." Crystal stepped forward.

"Crystal—"

"This is my dimension, Myra; I have to be here to help them defend it." Crystal looked over at Red, who nodded. She looked back at Seeker. "Thank you for everything you've been able to do."

Seeker nodded. "Good luck getting your teams back. And watch out for those horn-headed monsters – they're probably going to be moving a lot more now that we've started taking back dimensions."

"We'll get you out of the forest dungeon, at least," Red said. "After that, you're on your own."

"Thanks." Seeker gave Red a thumbs-up, then turned to look at the rest of the crowd. "Everyone not native to the Dungeon Zone, we're moving out! We'll be meeting Flare-Up at the Cyber Zone entrance, so let's move!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Kia/Scribe and the Shifter character she mentioned are both OCs from the batch I made when I was back in elementary school (that I later abandoned because they were too Mary-Sue/too powerful.) Bringing them back in slightly different forms was pretty nice.


	19. Continuum Shift

When they came out of the woods, Myra felt something crawl over her skin as she looked up at the pink barrier that stood at the end of a short clearing.

"It's not supposed to look like that." Myra gulped at the opaque barrier in front of them, standing at four times the height that the other ones had been.

"Things are changing." Seeker frowned. "And not for the better."

The Time Barrier rippled as Flare-Up, wearing her armor, stepped through and onto the grass. She put her hands on her hips. "What took you?"

"A few wild Pokémon that needed a thorough beating," Red replied.

Flare-Up blinked, then tilted her head slightly. "I didn't think that I'd see a version of Red with wings and a tail." She raised an eyebrow in interest. "That must make Pokémon battles interesting."

"That's one way to put it," Riley said with a snort. Flare-Up didn't even bat an eye at the Pikachu speaking in English.

"Optimus and Megs already went on ahead with the others into the Cyber Zone." Flare-Up motioned at the wall behind her. "I've been waiting for you to show up and have been watching time deteriorate in the meantime."

"Is that why the Time Barrier's so tall?" Myra asked nervously.

"Partially. I was mostly referring to its color." Flare-Up's expression shifted slightly. "Did Scribe find you?"

"…Yes, she did." Seeker's eyes narrowed.

"I can't help but feel like I'm out of the loop on something," Myra complained. "You know her, I don't, and she was talking about some big plan that you've got going on and I have no idea what it is you guys know because I don't have all my memories back!"

"I don't know if what we know would be something you would know regardless of your memory loss," Flare-Up replied. She motioned with her head for the others to follow her through the barrier. "I'll take them from here, Red. We have a base set up on the other side. Good luck defending your secret base."

"And the same to you," Red replied with a nod. He turned and stepped back into the trees and disappeared from sight.

"Come on!" Flare-Up motioned for the large crowd to follow her back through the Time Barrier. "Seeker, when we reach the base, I'm going to want to speak with you and Myra in private. Cobra – you, in the blue hood – there's people waiting for you on the other side."

"Cobra?" Myra repeated in confusion.

There was a commotion near the back of the crowd as the man in the blue hood they'd rescued with the Cybertronians tried to run back to the woods, only to be struck down by Nightwing and Captain America before he could get too far.

"We have to move." Flare-Up stepped through the barrier without another word, the entire pink wall rippling as she disappeared.

Myra bolted after her, her face smacking into the barrier with enough force that she almost bounced off it, but still went through regardless.

Her feet went from springy grass and earth to hard earth, the change being enough to cause her to stumble before she was able to catch her balance.

Myra looked up as the others came through the barrier with similar reactions to the change in ground and the barrier's difficulty to get through.

"Welcome to Cybertron." Flare-Up motioned to the metal world they had just stepped into. Skyscrapers – larger and clearly built for giants – rose up around them into a dark gray sky that was consistent across the other worlds, but it seemed darker here. More…metal.

Flare-Up led the group into a small chamber dug into the foundations of one of the nearby buildings – one that looked like a giant dome that could have once been painted bright colors.

A group of men and women wearing green camouflage grabbed Cobra as soon as Captain America and Nightwing dragged him into the base; they pulled him off into another room exchanging grim grins.

"Settle in, but know that we won't be staying here for long." Flare-Up motioned for Myra and Seeker to follow her into another room, not so much as sparing a glance at a man in black with two swords sheathed on his back.

"Who  _is_  Scribe?" Myra demanded as Flare-Up pushed a sheet of metal in front of the doorway. "What's this plan that Kia was talking about back there? I feel like I'm being left out of the loop and—"

Flare-Up held up a hand, cutting Myra off. "I can explain, and I will. Just give me a moment to choose a place to start from; there is a lot happening here that calls back to things that happened in my past."

Myra blinked at that while Seeker frowned.

"Sis…?" Seeker tilted his head slightly.

Flare-Up rubbed her right temple as she started pacing up and down along one of the blank walls of the room. It was rough, and almost looked like a cave wall. Myra half-wondered how they'd managed to dig this base out of the metal.

"I met Scribe after participating in a fighting tournament," Flare-Up said, turning to look at them. "It was accidental; she was hovering in mid-air and writing something. She wasn't expecting to be seen, and as soon as she introduced herself she flashed out of sight without saying anything else about herself or where she was going." She paused. "Apparently, she's supposed to be unnoticeable to every person in every dimension she enters. The fact that the invisibility dropped that moment couldn't have been an accident."

"You think something forced that to drop?" Seeker asked.

"Probably. Scribe referenced higher-dimension beings – Ancient Walkers, the Axolotl—"

"What are those?" Myra frowned.

"The Axolotl is an aquatic salamander creature that somehow managed to transcend time and space and is now looking over multiple dimensions. Mostly ones involving a triangle and a six-fingered man." Flare-Up's brow furrowed, and she shook her head. "The Ancient Walkers are beings that also transcended to a higher dimension, but they belong to a different dimension entirely – one where animals are sentient beings and they can tap into power that comes from gems that are absolutely full of infinite chaotic energy."

"She only referenced the Axolotl with us," Seeker said, frowning.

"For good reason. The Dark Arms destroyed the Ancient Walker aspects that Scribe was familiar with – she came from a version of Mobius, as did they." Flare-Up wagged a finger at him, then went back to pacing. "The Dark Arms are – or were – versions of an alien race that liked to play with their food. Their version of Shadow, a being named Hive, was specifically made to bring beings that tapped Chaos Energy under their power."

"Shadow…?" Myra was almost hesitant to ask.

Flare-Up made a motion, and something flickered into view in the middle of the room: standing on two legs and wearing nothing but shoes and gloves was a black, furry being, with red stripes on its head and equally red eyes. The creature disappeared from sight a moment later.

"Mobian Hedgehog," Flare-Up explained without looking over.

"So, you're saying they destroyed their own dimension?" Seeker asked.

"They did something with it, and since then they've been working to bring more dimensions under their control for reasons I have yet to understand." Flare-Up's brow was furrowing more deeply. "Maybe they lost it and the people who once populated it were either killed or scattered to the stars. Maybe they're using it as the core for this collision of worlds – I'm not certain. In any case, Scribe was pulled from that mess before she could become entangled in a mess she would be unable to undo, even with assistance. Eggman certainly couldn't do anything when he was sent there by Palkia when Neo-Mobius became a thing, so if that doesn't say anything the World Collision tells much more."

Myra was tempted to ask who Eggman was, but she felt that it wouldn't be the best of ideas right at this moment.

"So, what's to be done?" Seeker asked. "If they couldn't be defeated in their own dimension, then—"

"That Mobius was blocked off from others being able to go in and help. Now that they've brought other worlds into the mix – and us as a result – they're far more vulnerable than they were initially. But there is only one thing that can be done now in order to reverse what they've done and make sure they pay for it in the process." Flare-Up looked at Seeker. "And I don't know what's going to happen afterwards, especially with Airam running rampant across the worlds like she owns all the territories."

"Your evil double," Seeker said.

"Unfortunately," Flare-Up confirmed. "I'll have to do something about her before the final confrontation."

"Final – aren't you planning too far ahead?" Myra asked.

Flare-Up stopped pacing and looked at Myra; Seeker followed suit.

"At this point…" Flare-Up sighed, and her expression softened as she shook her head. "You saw the Time Barrier and felt how it pressed against you when you tried to pass through it."

Myra blinked, startled at the sudden change of subject. "Uh-uh, yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Time and space don't like what the Dark Arms have done. They're fighting back, but the results of that mean that reality is tearing itself apart here." Flare-Up paused. "Time is going to start going crazy in the World Zones – even more crazy than it already has. Space is going to collapse in on itself and expand outwards at the same time, sucking in everything in its reach. Everything you see now is going to be destroyed if we don't act now."

Myra swallowed thickly as the blood drained from her face. "Wh-what do we have to do to keep that from happening?"

"We have to reach the center of this mess. The Cybertronians have everything pretty well-handled here, and if Scribe took Pitch to the Hyrule Zone, everything should be set to rights there as well rather quickly. His abilities in generating fear should help to keep those who are under the Dark Arms' control in check, allowing any stragglers to fight back and start releasing people quickly." Flare-Up looked at Seeker. "Those of us who have been jumping from Zone to Zone and have parts of the Dark City as their home dimension need to make the final assault on that place now. Give me time to attract Airam's attention and take care of her, then climb the central tower and confront the Dark Arms directly." She looked at Myra. "Your powers counteract hers. I'm going to need your help on this."

Myra gulped, then nodded quickly. "Y-yeah. Sure. Just…stand out of the way, like last time, right?"

"That's the basic idea."

"You still haven't said what you're planning on doing in order to reverse this," Seeker pointed out. "I want to know if you're thinking what I'm thinking."

Myra looked between the two of them as Flare-Up's gaze hardened. "You…you know a way that could fix this?"

Flare-Up paused, and a hand hovered over her chest for a moment as  _something_  white flashed under her armor. She shook her head and dropped her hand. "Ever since meeting Scribe again, I've been holding back. I refuse to let things stand as they are, however, and intend to confront the Dark Arms one last time before I let instinct take over and hit the reset button."

"Reset – you mean you're gonna reset the universe?!"

"Just the worlds here; what I do now won't affect your home." Flare-Up held up a hand. "But we need to make sure that as many people are back in their proper dimensions as possible – we are taking  _only_  those heroes and villains who belong to the Marvel and DC worlds with us when we go into the Dark City. No one else. There will still be enough with us to cause a ruckus and do something about keeping their forces busy while also rescuing those we can."

Seeker nodded.

"Wait – how can a World Jumper reset an entire  _universe?_ " Myra demanded. "I thought we could only make portals, not – not turn back the clock or anything!"

"It's not a true reset; some things will change," Flare-Up replied calmly. "Another name for it is a  _Continuum Shift_  – most things will remain the same, but there will be details of things that will be different and hint at what happened before, in the old timeline. And I can't guarantee that everyone will remember completely what's happened." She looked at Seeker. "And I don't intend to warn them of that."

Seeker frowned. "Why not? I should think you'd at least want to tell—"

"Captain America and Nightwing, yes; I will be talking to those two about this," Flare-Up replied evenly. "I simply wanted to speak with you two on it first." She looked between the two of them. "Take some time to think things over. I'm going to go find those two and let them know what it is that's going to happen."

With that, she pushed the metal aside, exposing the doorway again, and stepped out of the room.

"How can she be so calm about this?!" Myra exploded. "She just said she's gonna – gonna  _wipe people's memories?!_  I just started to get mine back! I can't—"

"She's  _not_."

Myra stopped in the middle of her rant and looked up in confusion.

"My sister is anything but calm about this," Seeker said quietly and evenly. "Our parents told us about the Continuum Shift the summer before this happened. They  _warned_  us of the consequences of it and told us that if we ever had to use it, to use it only as a last resort. Flare has gotten herself entangled in these worlds so tightly that she doesn't want to think about them forgetting her. Captain America, Nightwing, Optimus Prime…they're close allies, and even closer mentors. To lose those figures, only to come across them again, when they may act differently and not recognize you, is only making this decision even more difficult. It would be like losing your closest friends and only being able to see them from a distance, and never get the chance to talk to them ever again."

Myra's eyes slowly widened as Seeker spoke, the realization of what was going on settling in and leaving a sense of sadness and dread in its place. "You mean…like how if I would go home now, any friends I had at home would be sad because I don't really remember them?"

"Exactly." Seeker nodded slightly. "Flare-Up is going to have to deal with those consequences when she starts going around to various worlds again after we've fixed all this. She is going to have to deal with that. Whether the rest of us will or not…well, I guess that's up to the Multiverse to decide."

"...I…I guess." Myra's feet shuffled a little against the metal floor. "How could you tell that Flare-Up wasn't calm about this? Was it an aura thing or—"

"She paces when she knows something's going on and she doesn't like it." Seeker smirked a little. "She may be more serious now, but that doesn't mean that she can get rid of all her quirks with a snap of her fingers."

Myra blinked, wide-eyed. She hadn't even thought that the pacing was an instinctive thing on Flare-Up's part! She hadn't even thought that Flare-Up could ever be not calm.

"What do you think she's going to do about Airam?" Myra asked.

"I'm sure she has some half-baked plan in the works and will improvise the rest when you finally run into her," Seeker replied. "That's usually how she works – she can plan a way  _in,_ but not necessarily a way  _out._ " He chuckled a little. "I'd like to see the look on Wildfire's face when she hears about what's happened here, that's for sure. I bet she'd want to have a few words with my sister." He clapped a hand on Myra's shoulder. "Get some rest. You're going to need it for when we start the final assault."

With that, Seeker stepped out of the empty room, leaving Myra standing alone with her whirling thoughts.


	20. Final Assault

Myra was shaken awake some hours later by a gentle hand. She opened her eyes and looked up from where she was leaning against the cave-like metal wall.

Flare-Up was standing over her, with an expression on her face that looked nothing like the grim determination she'd had every time Myra had seen her before. She seemed sad, which startled Myra into wakefulness.

She didn't think that Flare-Up could even  _look_  sad anymore.

"Get up," Flare-Up said quietly. "We're moving now."

Myra yawned and pulled herself up to her feet, leaning against the wall.

Flare-Up's expression hardened into the familiar, severe seriousness that she'd had when Myra had first seen her fully aware of her surroundings. "The others are waiting by the barrier leading into the Dark City. We've got one shot, and then the Time Barriers won't let anyone cross. Not even World Jumpers."

"They can do that?" Myra asked nervously.

"Unfortunately. When time and space as we know it are tearing themselves apart, they get to be even more powerful than even a World Jumper can handle. So watch your step when we go through this time."

Myra gulped and nodded.

Flare-Up nodded in response, then stepped out of the room. Myra followed after her, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and feeling more alert now than she did when she'd wandered the streets of the Dark City alone.

The Time Barrier between the Cyber Zone and the Dark City Zone was connected – somehow – to the barrier that separated them from the Dungeon Zone.

Myra thought she saw the Time Barrier leading into the Dungeon Zone move towards them an inch, causing her to jump back a little. Flare-Up saw her move and nodded slightly before moving towards the other barrier.

"Do you all know what you're doing?" Flare-Up asked. "It's going to become extremely dangerous when we step through and start, especially if we put what we planned into motion in order to spread their sources thin."

"We've got it." Nightwing gave a thumbs-up.

"You talked to Batman?"

"I did. I'll leave it up to him what he does, but I don't think that he's going to be able to stay out of things and watch the rest of us scramble around for much longer." Nightwing looked up at the dark sky. "I know where the Watchtower is, at least. It won't be hard for them to drop down and join us."

"Batman's coming  _down?"_  Myra asked in amazement.

"Maybe. We'll have to see what he decides to do. In the meantime, we've got other things to worry about." Nightwing looked over at the barrier, which was turning an almost deep purple. "The Time Barrier doesn't look like it's going to let us cross."

"Leave that to me." Flare-Up cracked her knuckles, then motioned for Seeker to join her at the Time Barrier. "We're going to need to make a hole."

"Got it." Seeker grinned. He stood next to Flare-Up. "Ready when you are, little sis."

Flare-Up's expression soured, but she said nothing as she held her hands up against the slowly-turning-purple barrier in front of them. Seeker mimicked her movements.

Something bright blue-white pulsed from their hands; Myra stiffened in surprise at the sight of it, but her expression quickly turned to awe as the color of the barrier changed from purple to bright pink as it became more translucent.

"GO!" Flare-Up yelled.

Nightwing and the rest of their eclectic group did not need to be told twice. They bolted for the barrier and passed through it with relative ease before splitting in different directions on the streets that made of the dark, foreboding city in the center of the collided worlds.

"Myra!" Flare-Up motioned with her head.

Myra shook herself out of her awe at the light show and dove through the barrier. She felt almost no push against her at all, which surprised her enough that she went into a roll on the street before she managed to scramble to her feet.

She looked back just as Seeker and Flare-Up scrambled through themselves, only for the Time Barrier to go from transparent to pink to purple in a fast cascade of colors.

Flare-Up took in a breath, then forced her shoulders to relax. "All right. We're essentially trapped here until the universe collapses or I set off the Continuum Shift, whichever comes first. I have some unfinished business to attend to before then, so let's hope space holds on until I have a chance to confront the people I need to."

"Seeker, we have to move." Nightwing – the only person left behind from when the others scattered – stepped forward and clapped a hand on Seeker's shoulder. "The others are already starting to move. You ready for this?"

Seeker hesitated, then nodded a little. "Yeah." He looked between Flare-Up and Myra. "Good luck, both of you. You're going to need it."

Flare-Up nodded. "The same to you."

Seeker remained standing for a moment, then turned and ran down the street, Nightwing falling into step next to him.

Cries started going up around the city, followed by roars and explosions. Myra could see buildings starting to be torn apart and falling to the ground.

"Come on. They're using my name to get the attention of the people that have been MindTech'd, but it's not going to last for long." Flare-Up jumped up in the air, and the hoverboard on her back slipped under her feet. She held out a hand to Myra. "We have to find Airam."

**Space Break**

"Wahoo! Come, Guardians! We have names from Very Naughty List to teach lesson!"

"Tch." Pitch watched as North bounded out of the chamber, squashing elves under his feet to destroy the MindTech on them as Tooth Fairy, Sandman, the Easter Bunny, and Jack Frost followed after him. "I forgot how annoyingly jolly that man is."

"It's a good thing." Kia was walking around the back portion of the ice-covered chamber. "With him back, the wonder and hope at reversing what the Dark Arms have done will hit everyone in the World Collision, regardless of the Zone they happen to be in. We've just helped Flare-Up and her allies much more than we could have by being there in person."

"Hmph." Pitch tilted his head slightly, then glided closer to where Kia was inspecting the wall. "And what exactly are you looking for?"

"Some clue as to how the Dark Arms began their conquest." Kia stopped moving and put a hand on the ice wall, frowning. "They may have placed the center of their empire in the Dark City because it is where the worlds merged best, but that doesn't mean that was where they began the World Collision. It should be the remnants of a dimension somewhere near here…."

Kia leaned in closer to the ice, eyes narrowing.

Pitch rolled his eyes. "Do you really expect to see something through that? Ice doesn't make for the best—"

Kia pulled back from the ice and pulled her arms back. Cream-colored sparks of  _some_  kind of energy coated her clenched fists up to her elbows, and she threw them forward at once.

The resounding crash that followed caused the ice to crack before it fell to pieces, creating a large gap in the ice that led to another area entirely.

"The origins for their World Collision plot starts here." Kia slipped into the gap and carefully moved sideways through the opening. Pitch followed after her, his thin form not really needing any careful maneuvering on his part.

"What? By merging my world together with theirs?" Pitch asked in a disapproving tone.

"No. By attempting to invade another dimension, but the power of their portal was too strong, and it merged the two worlds together and caused them to collapse in on each other because of the inter-dimensional strain." Kia shook her head. "They were far too greedy for their own good."

They came out on the other side of the ice gap, Kia stepping aside to let Pitch step through onto cold, partially melted cobblestone.

Pitch stared. "What in the name of the moon is…?"

"The remains of two dimensions, transformed into an arena they no longer use," Kia replied. "They set another world so far off-course in its timeline with their arrival that this is all that's left." She motioned to the large, circular stone arena, with ice covering the circular center, and the remains of some sort of wood-and-metal scaffolding up on one side.

A straw hat that looked like it was about to fall to pieces sat on the ice.

"It won't come back when Flare-Up fixes the dimensions, but there might be people out there who still remember this place." Kia sighed. "Losing one dimension is bad enough, but losing even these…" She shook her head.

Pitch wasn't one for emotional support. As it was, his gaze went over the melted stone and the remains of  _something_  that covered the stones in some places. "Eh. If there is anyone out there, at least they're not stuck in this mess." He turned and went back to the hole in the ice. "Come on. Those bozos are going to need someone to watch their backs."

Kia nodded numbly, then followed after him. There was a look in her eyes that suggested she was elsewhere.

_Speed, Shifter…wherever you are, I hope you're all right._

**Space Rip**

"I'd almost forgotten how quiet the streets were." Myra looked around at the abandoned buildings they passed, recognizing some as old hiding spots back when she had been alone. "It…it doesn't feel right now."

"Because you've been with us for long enough that you've forgotten a little what it's like to be alone," Flare-Up replied. She leaned forward on the hoverboard, and they started to move even more quickly through the streets towards the large, foreboding tower that stood over everything in the Dark City. She hissed under her breath. "Come on, come on, you purple clone, where are you?"

A loud screech came from one of the nearby skyscrapers, and a blast of purple flames came shooting out from one of the windows.

"Myra!"

"Flash Fire!" Myra raised a hand, keeping the other one on Flare-Up's shoulder in order to keep her balance. The purple fire was pulled in her direction and absorbed by her form instantly, filling Myra with more energy than she felt she knew what to do with.

"How  _dare_  you bring that one with you!" Airam shot down as the fire dissipated. The crazed look in her eyes caused Myra to flinch back a little.

"I am just leveling the playing field." Flare-Up started to bring up her right hand, then winced and put that hand over her chest instead. Something white flashed. "Not yet! Not now!"

Myra's eyes widened sharply. She'd seen that flash once before – when Flare-Up had been explaining her plan. Did that mean…?

Airam hovered a few feet in front of them, looking startled. "No…how do you have that power?! The masters said it was never going to happen – they made sure of it!"

Flare-Up growled as the white flash faded. "They only want you to think that." She held out both hands, palms facing the dark gray sky. "Airam. I know what you are, and who you are. I know what you have become, and what you intend to do with the powers that were granted to you in the beginning."

Airam's brow furrowed in confusion, the expression mimicked by Myra.

"Flare-Up, what are you—"

"Scribe told me." Flare-Up cut Myra off. "And now I am simply going to follow through." She took in a breath, then started murmuring something that didn't sound anything like English.

The white glow started up again, but it quickly changed to a dark, dark blue as tendrils of light rose from the palms of Flare-Up's hands and reached out towards Airam.

Airam started backing up slowly, then turned and prepared to bolt, only for the tendrils to latch onto her arms suddenly and pull her back, circling up her arms. Myra lost sight of the tips under Airam's hair.

Airam came to an abrupt halt, arched her back, and screamed to the heavens as something in the tendrils of light  _pulsed_  back towards Flare-Up.

Flare-Up cut the tendrils off, letting them dissipate and take the whatever-was-pulsing thing in them along with it.

Then she raised her Buster and fired a blast of orange energy that was as big as her head, sending Airam flying into another building.

Flare-Up lowered her Buster and almost fell forward, but managed to regain her balance. "Right. That's taken care of."

"Wh-what did you do?!" Myra yelped. "Where did those light-things come from?!"

"Instinct," Flare-Up murmured in reply. She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It probably won't happen again."

"Probably?! Flare-Up, what did you do?!"

Flare-Up half-turned and glared back at Myra with such a fierce gaze that it caused Myra to flinch back. "I took her ability to World Jump, okay?!"

Myra's eyes widened sharply. "Wha—"

"Impossible!" Ariam stumbled out from the crater she'd made in the side of a building. "You can't do that – that's an ability that can't be taken from—"

"Well, I just did, and I don't know how I know," Flare-Up replied shortly. She pointed the Buster at Airam again. "We need to get inside the tower. Now."

Airam held up her hands, but the movement was slow. There was something in her eyes that seemed to say she was more tired. "You know there's only one way in for people like you. If you want to get in, grab a cart and take the Trials."

Myra stiffened, her grip tightening on Flare-Up's armor. "No…" She gulped loudly.

Airam cackled. "Oh, it seems your friend already knows what coming! Did you try them and get caught?"

"I heard rumors, nothing else!" Myra yelped. "I never went  _near_  that place, and for good reason!"

"Well, you're going there now! You want to see my masters and put an end to them, you're going to have to march yourself right up there and into their hands." Airam looked at her hands, as though there were fingernails on the tips of her white-gloved fingers. "Of course, since your friends have all managed to draw out their expendable minions, that just leaves the ones they've always had with them." She looked over slyly. "Are you sure you want to face up against them? Hmm?"

Myra made a nervous noise and shook her head quickly as Flare-Up's shoulders stiffened at Airam's words.

Airam cackled again. "I'd like to see you try, but seeing as I've failed, the masters probably won't let me see. The least I could do is get you your ride." She grinned a little too widely for a normal human face. "So?"

Flare-Up said nothing. Myra looked between the two of them, her nervous energy starting to act up and cause purple sparks to fly from her shoulders.

"Myra, steel yourself," Flare-Up said crisply. "Do it."

Airam threw back her head and howled with laughter. "With pleasure!" She made a great, waving arc with one hand, sending sparks of purple flames into the sky, lighting up the surrounding area with strange runes that exploded into nothingness. "Expect your ride in a matter of minutes. I am going to make myself scarce. Loyal to the masters I may be, but I do not intend to die before you do."

With that, Airam moved back into the shadows between buildings and disappeared from sight.

Myra gulped loudly again as Flare-Up's hoverboard disappeared from under their feet, dropping her and Flare-Up to the ground. "Wh-what have you done?"

"What needed to be done." Flare-Up rolled her shoulders as Myra's hands slipped off them. "According to what you know, the Trials are simply a series of challenges, correct?"

Myra nodded quickly. "Th-that's what I heard, yeah…but are you sure we'd be able to handle it without getting caught?"

"I'm certain." Flare-Up looked at Myra. "The Continuum Shift won't let us fail. Not now."

Myra blinked, then looked down at Flare-Up's chest and sucked in a breath when she saw the small, pulsing white light that seemed to come from somewhere under the other World Jumper's armor. She looked back up at Flare-Up's face. "That's what you used to take away Airam's power, isn't it?"

Flare-Up's right hand reached up and hovered over the white light. "That seems…more than likely. It's bought us more time before it will force me to unleash it, but how much…" She shook her head. "It will happen in the tower, at least."

Something started rattling on the street corner ahead of them, and Myra and Flare-Up looked over.

A cart of some kind – purple and black, with no visible driver – came around the corner and stopped at the end of the street. It looked like a covered wagon of some kind, but the canopy over the back was transparent.

"That's it." Flare-Up strode towards the cart. "Come on, Myra. It's time we finished this. For good."

Myra stared at Flare-Up's back, wondering how in the world she could be willing to go back to her tormentors, then shook her head and quickly ran after her and scrambled up into the back of the cart in time with Flare-Up.

Flare-Up had said that they were going to be partners. It wouldn't be right for Myra to just up and abandon her at the last moment.

**Time Break**

Myra fidgeted in the back of the cart as they came close to the base of the tower. Something about Flare-Up's calm felt…too calm. "Flare-Up?"

Flare-Up turned her head away from the empty streets and inclined her head slightly. "Yes?"

"Have you…" Myra paused. "Have you participated in tournaments before?"

Flare-Up blinked at the question, then looked up at the transparent canopy above them. "I have. Most of them involved teams of Pokémon being pitted against each other, and I have competed in a Smash Worlds Tournament, as well." She looked back with a tired, serious expression. "But I haven't been involved in anything like what has been described to me here. Why do you ask, Myra?"

Myra blinked a couple times, then looked away – back the way they had come. "Well…I was kinda wondering if you had any experience—"

"According to what I've heard you and the others say about this—" Flare-Up motioned to the tower they were swiftly approaching—"it's nothing like any normal tournament. It's a death trap. People go in, and they don't come out."

Flare-Up's voice had taken a dark tone that caused Myra's eyes to widen before she flinched at the last sentence. After a moment, she gave a hesitant nod. "I…guess you could put it that way, yeah. The Trials aren't something that I've ever thought could be beaten." She looked at Flare-Up. "But do you think there's a chance?"

Flare-Up nodded sternly. "We've weakened their numbers and strengthened our own. I think we'll be able to handle whatever lies beyond those doors." She glared up at the tall, black tower that was ahead of them, and the doors that were swiftly becoming more visible. They looked like they were either made of ancient stone or metal, with carvings of knights fighting against dragons with nothing but swords.

Myra hesitated. "Flare-Up, I don't know if you should have chosen me to go with you for this."

Flare-Up blinked. "What makes you think that?"

Myra looked at Flare-Up in surprise at the question. "W-well, I'm not as strong as Captain America or as fast as-"

"Do you really think that's the only thing that matters?" Flare-Up frowned disapprovingly, causing Myra to flinch again. "What matters is that you and I can work together. I haven't been able to fight side-by-side like this with most of the others we've managed to rescue, and even then, you can read my movements better than they can in a fight."

Myra looked at Flare-Up in surprise at that. "R-really?"

Flare-Up nodded, a somewhat demonic smile working its way across her face. The expression made Myra shudder a bit. "The Dark Arms won't know what hit them."

With that said, the doors in front of them slowly started to open, and Flare-Up returned her attention to the tall tower in front of them as her face shifted into a mask of grim determination.


	21. Dark Tower

The cart fell to pieces almost as soon as the doors slammed shut behind them, leaving them in momentary darkness. Myra stumbled to catch herself as Flare-Up grunted from the bench suddenly dropping out from under her.

"They don't intend to give us a ride out," Flare-Up noted. There was a spark of orange flame, and a fireball appeared, hovering over Flare-Up's open palm and illuminating her face. She dropped her hand, and the little fireball bobbed in the air in front of her before shooting ahead of them and up. It hit the ceiling a second later, illuminating a corridor as it did. "Looks like there's only one way to go." Flare-Up summoned another fireball and motioned with her head for Myra to follow her. "Come on."

Myra followed almost immediately in Flare-Up's footsteps, staying as close to the other World Jumper as possible as they followed the corridor. "Are you sure this is the way we're supposed to be going?"

"The entrance chamber only got us so far, and I have various types of vision that I can switch through depending on the situation that I find myself in." Flare-Up sounded like she was rattling off a grocery list. "The only reason that I am using my fire to light the path is so that you can see what I can see, even if it's only a little."

"Oh." Myra blinked. "I, uh, didn't think you could do that."

"I'm a Reploid, remember? I have access to things that humans can't do as a result of the technology at my fingertips."

"Oh, yeah. Right." Myra rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. "I…I'd forgotten about that."

Flare-Up grunted in response. "Don't worry about it. That's kind of the point."

The fireball that was hovering near the ceiling ahead of them came to a sudden stop in front of a pair of steel doors that definitely looked better cared-for than the rusted pair they had entered the tower through. Flare-Up pulled her hand away from the second fireball she'd summoned, leaving it to hover in the air next to Myra's right shoulder as she stepped towards the doors.

Flare-Up raised her right fist, the back of it towards the doors, and started to knock, only for the doors to slide back on well-oiled hinges. A light flickered on, revealing a small, white room with handles on the walls.

"An elevator." Flare-Up lowered her hand. "They must have the trials take place further up." She looked at Myra. "There's no turning back now. We can only move forward."

Myra swallowed and nodded. "I wish I was more prepared. If we'd had more time, I'm sure I would have remembered more than I have – I could have gotten more of my attacks back, too."

"I know." Flare-Up put a hand on Myra's shoulder. "There are some things that I wished to have accomplished as well, but with the multiverse forcing our hands, there was nothing we could do." She looked back at the elevator, which was still open. "And now, we just have a few things more to do, and then everything will go back to how it's supposed to be. With some…unfortunate changes."

Myra nodded. "Are you…gonna be okay?" Her eyes flicked down to Flare-Up's chest. She hadn't seen the white light flicker on again after what had happened with Airam.

"I have time before I'll have to do anything with that," Flare-Up confirmed. "Come on. We might as well give them one final show before I show them what the Multiverse has decided to do in exchange." Flare-Up grinned then, but it wasn't a  _nice_  grin. This was the grin of someone who was looking forward to tearing someone else apart.

Myra nodded, mentally steeling herself. "R-right. Let's go."

The two of them stepped into the elevator, the doors closing shut behind them on smooth hinges. The chamber jolted a little, then started to rise.

"We're going at a fast pace," Flare-Up commented, leaning against the wall. She watched the digital screen above the doors as numbers quickly flashed, counting upward as the word "PASSED" appeared next to them.

"We're passing right through all the other Trials they've got set up in the tower." Myra frowned. "Why—"

"Part of the plan." Flare-Up pointed down. "With all their minions outside fighting against Seeker and everyone else, there's no one left here that could give us any trouble except for the Dark Arms themselves."

"Oh! They have that few people?"

Flare-Up frowned, then shook her head as she looked up at the numbers again. 23, 24, 25, and 26 flashed by in quick succession. "It's that this tower breaks space in order to get so many trials stuffed into one building. Cap said there had to have been fifty floors he got through before he was caught, but Batman said that was structurally impossible for a tower." She turned a hard gaze to Myra. "The others are fighting two entire dimensions' worth of heroes. That's a lot of people."

Myra swallowed at the implications of that as the numbers started to go by even more quickly.

**Space Break**

"If I have to see another iteration of Spiderman one more time it'll be too soon," Seeker grumbled as he pulled the webbing off his arms. "That has to be what, the third one since we've started?"

"Don't forget Venom," Captain America replied. He raised his shield just as a red beam was blasted towards them, sending it up into the sky.

Seeker rolled his eyes and groaned. "Ugh, don't remind me of that stupid symbiote." A sphere of Aura appeared on his palm, and he threw it at a net of spider webbing, shredding it before it could entrap anyone in the area. "That thing hates loud noises; I'm gonna need to find a bell nearby or something if he hasn't come to his senses yet."

Lightning crackles across the sky, weaving in the clouds right before a loud, thunderous noise hit the city below.

"I think that'll be more than enough to handle it." Captain America looked up at the sky. "Do you think that's what Maria was talking about?"

A loud klaxon went off as a red light blazed from one of the nearby buildings.

"Yup." Seeker's eyes narrowed. "Here comes the next wave!"

**Space Break**

Myra wasn't sure how long the elevator ride was – the numbers were nothing more than a green blur now, with "PASSED" being a permanent part of the display above the door.

At least, until the numbers turned into a stretched, sideways 8, and the elevator came to such an abrupt stop it threw Myra away from the wall.

The word "PASSED" disappeared from the display, and the word "FINAL CHALLENGE" started blinking in its place.

"We're here." Flare-Up stepped away from the wall. "They must have something planned for us." She looked over at Myra. "Are you ready for this?"

Myra looked between Flare-Up and the elevator doors, uncertain. She swallowed. "As…as ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

Flare-Up nodded. "Watch my back; I'll try to handle what's coming head-on while you stand as support." She turned to face the elevator doors, which started to open.

"Sure; I can do that." Myra nodded quickly. "No problem."

"All right." Flare-Up cracked her knuckles. "Let's do this."

The arena the two young women stepped into was huge in Myra's eyes. Flare-Up didn't look the least bit fazed until after the elevator had sunk into the arena floor behind them and disappeared.

"This place is too clean," Flare-Up said. "I don't even smell bleach or even the slightest trace of anything else." She knelt and dug her fingers into the sand that covered the arena floor. "Not even tamped down…" She looked over at Myra. "We're the first ones to set foot in this place."

Myra swallowed. "We are?"

Flare-Up rose to her full height again and looked up at the open sky above them. The clouds were roiling and growing darker by the second. "We are. And I'm pretty sure that's a bad thing."

"Why?"

"Because it means that no one who's challenged this place has ever gotten this far." Flare-Up looked over at Myra with a grim expression.

A loud thunderclap went off above, and there was a bright flash in the arena's seating. Myra jumped at the sound and squeaked loudly when she saw the figures that now populated the stands in the arena: large, hulking, humanoid creatures with black and red mottled skin and glowing eyes that made Myra's skin crawl. They screamed with the sound of rocks grating against each other, causing Myra to flinch back.

**_"Silence."_ **

The voice spoke with the same grating texture of the others, but there was something else in it too – a smoothness that didn't  _feel_  right, like someone had dropped a trickle of slimy oil down Myra's back. She shuddered, and Flare-Up took a slight step back before she managed to steel herself.

Myra's gaze moved from the hordes of black-and-red monsters to the section of seating in front of herself and Flare-Up. Three figures stood on a balcony above them, wearing black robes that covered their forms - mostly. Large, curling horns stuck out of the hoods they wore, curling up over their heads in intricate designs. Large, curved beaks came out from the blackness under the hoods, and harsh, glowing red eyes peered out and down towards Flare-Up and Myra.

"Dark Arms," Flare-Up said under her breath. It sounded like it was supposed to be a curse.

 ** _"The project has returned to us and has brought us another to use,"_**  sneered the one in the middle.  ** _"Let us see if they are ready to assist us in our conquest."_**

There came a loud snapping sound from somewhere, and another elevator rose up from the arena floor. This one was larger, and looked far more heavy-duty than the one that Myra and Flare-Up had come up in.

Myra swallowed nervously and stepped back as Flare-Up shifted her stance, more prepared for a fight than Myra clearly was.

The elevator doors opened, and a wraith came out.

Myra wasn't sure how else to describe it – it wore a black cloak and hood like the three horned Dark Arms, but the outfit was ragged. Clawed, five-fingered hands were clearly visible, hanging out from too-short sleeves, and the remains of something orange and gray were drooping from somewhere under the hood.

Flare-Up hissed something. "Are you our opponent?"

The cloaked figure paused at the question, then shook its bowed head slowly before stepping aside.

"Shifter," came a rasping voice from under the hood. "Maim."

Another figure stepped out from the elevator before it sank into the floor. Slit, yellow eyes scanned the arena before they settled on Myra and Flare-Up, brown hair shifting over a ragged, dark green T-shirt that looked like it had seen better days.

Flare-Up sucked in a breath sharply.

Then their opponent's appearance suddenly changed. Hands turned into large, black-scaled claws as an equally-black tail grew out from behind and horns sprouted from Shifter's head.

Myra paled. "Wh-what is—"

"So this is what you do to World Jumpers from your old world," Flare-Up spat. "You use them for sport."

Shifter moved into a crouch, her large tail sliding back and forth over the sand before she lunged towards Flare-Up, mouth open wide as she let out a loud snarl.

Flare-Up moved out of the way quickly, pulling Myra with her.

"We need to know everything we can about her before I'd feel comfortable leaping in and fighting her face to face," Flare-Up muttered.

Shifter stopped, then turned. The large tail shrank and disappeared, only for her body to start hovering above the ground on its own. She hissed through her teeth.

Myra squeaked. "She can fly?!"

"Move!" Flare-Up pushed Myra out of the way as fire started sparking on her shoulders. "Fire Spark!"

The sparking fireball was thrown at Shifter, who easily moved her body around the attack by curving her body to the point that she almost bent herself in half sideways.

Flare-Up made a motion with one hand, and the fireball came  _back_  and hit Shifter from behind.

The howling shriek that followed forced Myra to clap her hands over her ears. Flare-Up hardly flinched as Shifter fell to the arena floor.

The Dark Arms in the stands started roaring loudly, creating even more grating noise.

"That was too easy," Flare-Up muttered.

Then Shifter started to change again, losing the claws and the horns as her body started to shrink and turn a bright, glaring yellow. Another tail grew where the scaly one had been moments ago – small, shaped like a lightning bolt, and with the top of a heart at the end.

Flare-Up stared. "How in the name of—"

Shifter – now a Pikachu – sat up, sparks flying from the red circles on her cheeks before a large shockwave of electricity shot out from her small form.

"Fire Shield!" A wall of flames erupted between Flare-Up and the electrical shock wave, protecting both the Reploid and the still-human girl behind her from the blast.

Shifter's tail flashed a bright gray, and she leapt into the air before twisting and coming down, tail first, aiming for Flare-Up's head.

Flare-Up brought up her left arm, a blade ejecting from her arm and catching the tail at just the right moment before Shifter was flung back and Flare-Up skidded back as a result of the collision.

Flare-Up hissed as the Dark Arms' cheering started to grow louder. "So  _that's_  why she's called that. I wish I had Khrista to back me up."

"Crystal's counterpart?" Myra asked in confusion. "Why?"

"Because she can do the same thing with Types." Flare-Up gritted her teeth as another shockwave exploded out, only to be met by another shield of flames. "I'm weak to something like this. If Shifter manages to hit me, my systems are going to be overcharged and out of commission for who knows how long."

"Wh-what are we gonna do?" Myra asked nervously. "I don't think I'd be able to do too well against – against  _that!_  I don't think I'm even at full strength!"

Flare-Up paused at Myra's panicked statement. "Full strength…that might do something." She closed her eyes as the Fire Shield flickered, starting to lose strength.

"Flare-Up?" Myra asked nervously. "What are you doing?"

Sparks started to fly from Flare-Up's shoulders, but they weren't orange – they were  _white._  Myra's eyes widened at the sight, and she quickly stepped back as the fire started to grow.

The Fire Shield died, and Shifter shifted back to the half-demonic, draconic form she'd had at the start of the fight.

"Flare-Up?" Myra's voice rose. "Please, you've got to do something!"

Shifter started moving forward, claws held up and ready to slash at a moment's notice.

Myra looked between Shifter and Flare-Up – who was still standing, eyes closed tightly in concentration – and something in her snapped into focus.

Purple fire instantly blazed on her arms and grew over her chest as the purple crystal under her shirt flashed brightly. The energy she'd absorbed from Airam before surged now, trying to break out as soon as it possibly could.

And Myra let it.

"Flare Blast!"

A blast of purple fire rocketed out from Myra's chest, sucking the fire off her arms as it slammed into Shifter's own chest, causing her to stumble to a stop. The yellow, slitted eyes widened at the contact, and something flickered in them, almost making them look like they were changing color.

As soon as the purple flames disappeared, however, Shifter's eyes settled back to yellow, and she started moving forward again, more quickly this time.

Myra stumbled back, feeling weak in the knees as she moved behind Flare-Up, who was now completely  _covered_  in white fire. "Now would be a good time as any!"

Flare-Up stiffened at Myra's voice as Shifter raised a claw to slash at Flare-Up's head.

"White Flare: 200 percent!  _Overload!"_

Flare-Up's loud shriek was the only thing that warned Myra of what was coming right before Flare-Up unleashed everything she had.

At first, it was just a brief shockwave of white flames. But then, the air suddenly felt warmer, and fire started melting off Flare-Up's fire-covered form and quickly rippled across the arena in white waves that lapped at their ankles. Myra expected it to burn, but was surprised when she felt only a warmth and something tickle her feet.

Shifter, on the other hand, was less than lucky: the fire quickly climbed up her body in vines, keeping her in place and coating her in fire. She managed to let out a loud scream before the flames overtook her completely, and she collapsed into the fiery waves.

"Dissipate," Flare-Up murmured.

The fire faded instantly, sucked back into Flare-Up's body like someone had hit rewind on time. She dropped to one knee.

_Crunch._

Myra looked down and sucked in a breath sharply.

The entire arena had been covered in a layer of  _glass._  And she was standing on top of it, not at all harmed.

The Dark Arms started murmuring uneasily to each other in the stands. Something else shifted on the glassy arena floor, causing Myra to turn her attention from Flare-Up to the source.

Shifter was starting to get up from where she had collapsed, covered in burns and back in human form, but  _very much alive._

"Guh." Shifter hissed and rubbed the back of her neck. "What just happened…?" She blinked a couple times, her eyes going from slitted and yellow to something else entirely – a multicolored kaleidoscope of ever-shifting colors that clearly couldn't sit still for a second. She looked around the arena in confusion, then pulled her hand from the back of her neck.

The remains of a heavy-duty black box sat in her hand, charred and partially melted.

Flare-Up panted heavily. Something flickered in her chest. "Get out of here. Scribe won't leave until she finds you."

Shifter looked up sharply, looking at Flare-Up with wide eyes. "You—"

"I'm one of her counterparts." Flare-Up looked at Shifter with grim eyes. "Go. You know how to find her."

Shifter hesitated for a moment, then nodded and started to shift into something else that Myra was familiar with – Mythos' form. Even before she had fully become a Mewtwo, there was a bright flash, and Shifter disappeared from sight.

Flare-Up pushed herself to her feet as the Dark Arms started roaring in protest.

"You have lost!" Flare-Up yelled over the din as the pulsing in her chest grew stronger. "You will no longer be able to do what you like with the Multiverse!"

The Dark Arms laughed – the muscular ones did, at least. The sound caused Myra to flinch back and raise her hands to her ears.

 ** _"You really think you can stop us?"_**  one of the muscular ones called from the stands.  ** _"We are all-powerful! We are in control of your puny little universes!"_**

The horned Dark Arms said nothing, their stances stiffening.

The white pulsing wasn't just in Flare-Up's chest now; it spread out to her limbs, leaving white veins of light across her armor between pulses.

"You are not. And neither am I." Flare-Up brought her hands together in front of her, slowly, as though the movement was difficult for her. "You should not have made so many movements against the Multiverse, tearing it apart and putting it back together."

The light grew brighter; a sphere of white energy materialized between her palms.

"Myra."

Myra looked over at Flare-Up with a nervous expression.

"When we meet again, if you remember me—" Flare-Up looked back at Myra. "—my name is Maria."

The sphere took all the light from Flare-Up – no, from  _Maria_ – and exploded outward in such a fast blast that Myra was suddenly struck with a white blindness. She lost her footing, but it didn't feel like she was falling.

The purple crystal under her shirt sparked, then started pushing its glow outward, turning her vision purple before everything went darker and darker….


End file.
